Joe Teirab wins in Minnesota's competitive 2nd District GOP primary, will face Angie Craig in November

MINNEAPOLIS — Former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab pulled off a win Tuesday night in the 2nd Congressional District’s Republican primary election to face Rep. Angie Craig in November in one of the most closely watched races in the country.

Teirab was supposed to have a clear path to challenge Craig after attorney and political newcomer Tayler Rahm suspended his campaign in July to become former President Donald Trump’s senior adviser in Minnesota.

Teirab has Trump and the National Republican Congressional Committee behind him and the money needed to run a formidable campaign against Craig.

But even after he suspended his campaign, support for Rahm remained among his loyal base of grassroots conservatives, who helped propel him to victory over Teirab during the Republican Party’s 2nd District endorsing convention.

Rahm’s campaign literature was still being distributed ahead of the primary, and his lawn signs remained visible across the district. Some of his supporters had said they still would not vote for Teirab even though he had Trump’s endorsement.

After Rahm left the race, neither he nor the 2nd District GOP came out in support of Teirab.

Even though he left the race and stopped campaigning, Rahm’s name still appeared on the primary ballot because he had missed the early June cutoff to remove his name. Candidates can only have their names removed from the ballot if they die, become incapacitated or go through a court process to deem them ineligible, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

Rahm was asked after he suspended his campaign what he would do if he won the primary. “If somehow I was able to win the primary, which I don’t believe is likely, I would cross that bridge at that time to decide what I was going to do,” he said.

Craig, seeking her fourth term in Congress, faced just one lesser-known primary opponent, Marc Ives, who said he entered the race after Craig voted on a bill to send $26 billion in aid to Israel. Craig beat Ives decisively Tuesday evening.

Craig has faced tough races throughout her tenure since she defeated former GOP Rep. Jason Lewis in 2018.

As in previous cycles, Republicans are actively trying to flip the swing district Democrat’s seat.

In 2020, Craig narrowly won her reelection bid by just over 2 points against the GOP’s Tyler Kistner, and by just over 5 points in a 2022 rematch.

Craig won by a slimmer margin in 2020, when Trump was at the top of the ticket. This could be another tough year for her, going against a well-funded opponent who has the backing of Republicans nationally and with the former president once again driving Republican turnout as the party’s presidential nominee.

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