As Rep. Angie Craig takes her town halls to greater Minnesota, Republican colleagues say she may be violating House ethics rules

ST. CLOUD – Minnesota’s four Republican representatives in Congress say Democratic U.S. Rep. Angie Craig may have violated ethics rules by holding town hall meetings outside of her suburban metro district, a charge that she denied Wednesday.

“Well, that’s really rich,” Craig declared after an hour-long town hall meeting at St. Cloud State University, prompting a standing ovation. “Not a single dollar of taxpayer money is being used here. Now I’m going to ask where the hell they are.”

Craig, who is in the middle of a town hall tour of four GOP-controlled congressional districts throughout the state this week, appeared Wednesday at St. Cloud State before a friendly crowd of about 80 people.

“Every single Minnesotan deserves someone from Washington to tell you what’s happening,” she told them. “I wanted to show you someone who shows up and does their job.”

Craig is reportedly mulling a bid for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Tina Smith, who is not seeking re-election next year, and expects to make a decision by next week.

Her tour throughout greater Minnesota comes as Republicans here and elsewhere are eschewing in-person town hall meetings. Many of their constituents are vocally unhappy with the Trump administration’s fluctuating tariff policies, a jittery stock market, mass deportations, and cuts to federal jobs and services, and concerned about Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.

Craig, whose House district spans the south metro area, appeared Monday in Grand Rapids, part of Rep. Pete Stauber’s district. She plans additional town hall events in Willmar and Mankato later this week.

She spent about an hour in St. Cloud on Wednesday answering audience questions posed by a moderator, touching on Medicaid cuts, union rights, fraying trade relations with Canada and how Democrats and Republicans can join together “to stop the madness.”

St. Cloud is located squarely within the Sixth Congressional District represented by House GOP leader Tom Emmer, a fervent loyalist of President Donald Trump.

“I’m here because Tom Emmer won’t show up, and he won’t take your concerns to Washington on Monday,” Craig said.

Just before Wednesday’s town hall, Emmer and Stauber along with Republican colleagues Brad Finstad and Michelle Fischbach called on the House Committee on Ethics and the Committee on House Administration to “review possible violations of House rules” by Craig.

In a statement, the GOP representatives claim Craig is using official House resources to fund the town hall meetings and promote “her political ambitions,” which they allege violate House ethics rules.

Craig denies the charge. Last week, she announced that her campaign raised more than $1.2 million in the first quarter, her best fundraising effort for that period to date.

Last month, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., encouraged his GOP colleagues to forgo town hall meetings after several faced constituents angry about several issues, particularly cuts made by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Minnesota’s four Republican representatives have followed Johnson’s suggestion, with a couple opting instead for “telephone town halls.” Emmer, for example, held a telephone town hall on April 2.

“Telephone town halls are an excellent platform to engage with thousands of Minnesotans while we are in Washington working on their behalf,” Emmer said in a news release.

More than 32,000 people joined the virtual town hall, with Emmer answering less than a dozen questions. Emmer, who did not respond to a request by the Minnesota Star Tribune for comment, cheered the Trump tariffs and DOGE-related cuts.

On Monday, Craig traveled to Grand Rapids, part of Stauber’s district, which covers a vast area from the northeast metro suburbs to the Arrowhead and the Canadian border. About 80 people showed up for the town hall.

WDIO-TV in Duluth reported the same day that Stauber met with Carlton County Republicans in a meeting at the Cloquet Public Library that was closed to the public. Protesters gathered outside.

In a statement, Stauber called Craig’s town hall meetings in Republican districts “political rallies.” Craig, he said, “has made her dream of replacing Tina Smith in the Senate abundantly clear.”

Finstad, who held two telephone town halls in February and March, made a similar charge about funding for Craig’s town halls in a statement provided to the Star Tribune. Craig will host a town hall Friday in Mankato, which is part of Finstad’s southern Minnesota district.

“Southern Minnesota has rejected the Walz-Craig agenda, and they aren’t falling for her political theater while she works against their interests when in Washington,” Finstad said.

Craig travels to Willmar on Thursday, part of Fischbach’s Seventh Congressional District in western Minnesota.

At a public appearance last month in Ottertail, Minn., Fischbach answered questions before a room of about 100 registered guests while more than 100 people outside protested the Trump policies that Fischbach defended. Each of those attending the event paid $10 for what was billed as a conversation hosted by the Minnetonka-based conservative think tank Center of the American Experiment.

Fischbach has characterized anti-Trump protests as “garbage” and has speculated that the protesters may not be from her district. She did not respond to a request from the Star Tribune for comment.