Rep. Pete Stauber faces Democratic challenger Jennifer Schultz in Eighth District

DULUTH – Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber will earn a fourth two-year term if he defeats Democratic challenger Jennifer Schultz in Tuesday’s general election.

In 2018, he flipped the historically blue district in a close race and has won by wide margins since, defeating Schultz in 2022 with 57% of the vote.

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

Stauber has campaigned on southern-border security and reducing high costs of living, while fighting to expand mining in northeastern Minnesota and improve energy policies. He associates Schultz with the Biden-Harris administration, which he says has hurt the American economy and contributed to overseas wars.

Schultz has told voters she’s a hard worker with small-town roots who will fight for access to affordable health and child care, defend reproductive rights and protect Social Security and Medicare. She’s attacked Stauber for votes to keep money out of the Eighth District and his alignment with former President Donald Trump, and says Stauber hasn’t done enough with his time in office.

Stauber has outraised Schultz this year, reporting $869,000 in cash in mid-October, with Schultz reporting about $323,500. The recently expanded Eighth District covers about a third of the state — west beyond Bemidji, south to outer-ring Twin Cities suburbs and all of northeastern Minnesota.