Tom Emmer wins reelection in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District race, CBS News projects

Incumbent Republican U.S. Congressman and Majority Whip Tom Emmer has defeated Democratic nominee Doug Chapin in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District race Tuesday evening, CBS News projects.

Emmer, the third-highest-ranking member of Congress, has represented the district since 2015. He won decisively over Michael Foley and Chris Corey in August's primary. He was endorsed by the Minnesota Republican Party at its state convention in May.

Emmer is a strong supporter of President Trump and his administration's priorities. He recently defended Mr. Trump's handling of the economy and his decision to go to war with Iran.

"Trump took the action no one else would take for 47 years," Emmer said, arguing Iran was "on the cusp of having nuclear capability."

Emmer has also joined the president in verbal attacks against Minnesota's embattled Somali community, declaring at a Faith and Freedom Coalition town hall in Washington, D.C., in June that if Somalis "don't assimilate, then they should go the hell back to where they came from." 

According to Chapin's campaign website, he is a college professor and attorney who worked for a decade at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs. He previously led the Pew Charitable Trusts' elections team and has "served as elections counsel to the Democrats on the U.S. Senate Rules Committee."

Chapin's platform, according to his campaign website, included fighting for an "economy that works for all of us [with] good jobs, livable pay, fair taxes and open markets; health care that cares for all of us, putting patients first, not insurance companies," and "a government that serves all of us with a Congress that represents 'we the people,' not the wealthy and powerful few."  

The 6th District encompasses communities including Andover, Blaine, Chaska, Elk River and the St. Cloud area.