Rep. Angie Craig defends Minnesota House seat in race clouded by legal confusion

Rep. Angie Craig (D) retained her House seat representing Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District after her Republican challenger requested a delay in the race following a third-party candidate’s death.

The Associated Press declared Craig the winner on Thursday. With 100 percent of precincts reporting in the southeastern Minnesota district, Craig won 48 percent of the vote compared to Republican Tyler Kistner’s 46 percent.

The race was initially disrupted after Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate Adam Weeks died in September, triggering a state law requiring the election to be pushed back to February. But Craig’s request to allow the election to continue in November was approved by a federal judge last month.

Kistner, a Marine Corps veteran, challenged the judge’s decision, bringing the case to the Supreme Court. Justice Neil Gorsuch rejected his plea last week.

In 2018, Craig flipped the Minnesota district after defeating former Rep. Jason Lewis (R-Minn.), whom she had lost to in 2016.