Northern Minnesota congressional candidates polite but pointed in only debate

DULUTH – Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber and Democratic challenger Jennifer Schultz may differ on culture war issues, but showed somewhat similar priorities Tuesday night when it comes to matters critical to their northern Minnesota district.

A 40-minute debate televised by Duluth-based WDIO News was the first and only in the congressional rematch. It showcased cordial candidates who took shots at each other as northern Minnesotans do: through smiling, gritted teeth.

“Jennifer, thanks for joining me once again,” Stauber said toward the end, before launching a barb. “No matter how hard my opponent tries, she cannot run from the extreme … politics of the Biden-Harris administration that has resulted in skyrocketing prices, open borders — wide open southern border — and chaos and wars abroad.”

And Schultz’s voice was measured as she attacked Stauber’s voting record and positions, including his opposition to abortion and vote against birth control access.

“My opponent has been in office for six years,” she said. “He has done almost nothing in Congress. … I’m very worried about that, and you should be as well.”

Stauber, seeking his fourth term, easily beat Schultz in 2020 with 57% of the vote, and his campaign has outraised hers this year 2 to 1. The recently expanded Eighth District, that until 2018 had been a DFL stronghold, covers about one third of the state — west beyond Bemidji, south to outer-ring Twin Cities suburbs and all of the northeast.

A Duluth native, Stauber is a retired police officer and former professional hockey player. He and his wife, Jodi, are raising six children in Hermantown.

Schultz is an economics instructor at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She served eight years in the Minnesota Legislature and lives in Duluth with her husband and two teenage sons.

Here’s what they said Tuesday about key local issues:

Schultz said housing was the No. 1 issue she heard from residents across 70,000 miles of travel through the district. Increased supply of all types, policies that would lower interest rates and legislation that would make it easier for developers to obtain financing were all things she’d champion, she said.

Stauber, who blamed “25 million illegal immigrants” competing for housing in the U.S., said the federal government needs to allow timelier timber harvesting in national forests, such as the Superior National Forest. Harvesting local timber here can reduce building costs, he said, and reducing mandates for builders can spur more development.

Stauber said that as a state lawmaker, Schultz was anti-mining. He wants to tap into the state’s copper nickel reserves in northern Minnesota, taking advantage of what he called the best labor and environmental standards. He criticized Democrats for protracted battles over mining expansion. Schultz said she not only supports mining, but she also wants to make steel on the Iron Range and would advocate for investments in water-filtering technology so new types of mining can be done responsibly. Stauber hasn’t capitalized on his own opportunities to do that, she said.

Schultz, who said she grew up with a rifle cabinet in her dining room and was taught to shoot responsibly, supports Second Amendment rights. But gun violence needs to be addressed, she said, and she’s in favor of background checks and federal red-flag laws.

“We should make it safe for young people to go to school and learn, and not be afraid of being killed by an intruder with an assault rifle,” she said.

Stauber said he also supports gun rights, and shared how he was the victim of violent gun crime as a police officer. He wants stronger prosecution of gun-related crimes.

“I understand the violence and how it disrupts the individual,” he said.

Stauber, who routinely mispronounced presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris’s name, said her deciding vote for the massive federal Inflation Reduction Act is costing Americans money. The country needs an energy policy that lowers the cost of things like heat, he said.

Schultz said Congress can ensure there is more competition and address high levels of mergers and acquisitions across health care and grocery industries to make basic needs more affordable.

Both candidates said they’d accept the results of the election.