Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) announced her campaign for Senate in Minnesota on Tuesday, becoming a top contender to fill the seat being vacated by Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) at the end of next year.
The 53-year-old congresswoman cited disarray in President Donald Trump’s administration as reasons for jumping into the race, including Trump’s efforts to profit off the presidency and his and billionaire Elon Musk’s attempts to dismantle the federal government.
“There’s chaos and corruption coming out of Washington, crashing down on all of us every day,” Craig said in a video released by her campaign. “An out-of-control unelected billionaire trying to take over our government and burn it to the ground. A president trampling our rights and freedoms as he profits for personal gain and a cowardly Republican Party rolling over and letting it all happen. It’s time to fight back.”
Craig is the first openly LGBTQ member to serve in Congress from Minnesota. The centrist Democrat was elected to the House in 2018 in what was then a GOP district and quickly rose in the ranks, becoming the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee. She was also the first swing-district Democrat to call on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.
“I grew up in a mobile home park — raised by a single mom, nobody gave us much of a chance,” Craig said in her launch video. “I worked my way through college. Started my career as a newspaper reporter. Then helped lead a major Minnesota manufacturing company. My wife Cheryl and I fought like hell to be the parents of our four wonderful boys, as some people — even a state government — tried to stop us.”
With Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) passing on the race, Craig’s top opponent in the Democratic primary is Peggy Flanagan, the state’s lieutenant governor and the highest-ranking Native woman elected to executive office. Flanagan has the support of both Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.).
The seat is expected to remain in Democratic hands. Minnesota hasn’t elected a Republican senator in over 20 years.