Minnesota state Sen. Eric Pratt is lone GOP contender for Rep. Angie Craig's US House seat
Minnesota's Second Congressional district is a combination of suburbs like Lakeville, as well as smaller cities and farming areas in Scott and Le Sueur Counties.
Lately in elections, it has voted for DFL candidates by a plus-three margin. DFL Congresswoman Angie Craig has represented the district since 2018, but before that it was in Republican hands for 16 years first with GOP Reps. John Kline and Jason Lewis.
Republicans say this year it's their turn to win back the district. GOP state Sen. Eric Pratt, the endorsed candidate, will face one of three DFL candidates in the general election. Those candidates are battling each other in the August primary are state Rep. Kaela Berg, state Sen. Matt Klein and former state Sen. Matt Little.
While all have to battle each other to win the primary, Pratt has the luxury of not facing a major GOP opponent. Does he believe that will give him an advantage?
"When I played football, coach always told us we needed to focus on our game plan, not the other team's game plan," Pratt said.
The former US Bank vice president has been a state senator from Prior Lake since 2012. As a Republican, he faces headwinds from President Trump's sinking poll ratings, inflation rising and an unpopular war.
"There's a lot of support for the president. There's some people who don't support the president," Pratt said. "What you find with the Second District is there's a high number of independent voters, and they're not really voting the party, they're voting for the person."
You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Adam Del Rosso every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.