By: Rachel Fergus
10/5/2020
Craig is campaigning full speed and challenging the delay in court; Kistner prefers to wait until February.
With four weeks until the 2020 general election, residents of Minnesota’s Second District do not know if their votes for a U.S. representative will count. Secretary of State Steve Simon has said they will not. The incumbent, however, has taken that decision to court.
The names of U. S. Rep. Angie Craig (D) and challenger Tyler Kistner (R) appear on the ballot with that of Adam Weeks, the Legalize Marijuana Now candidate. However, after Weeks’ death on Sept. 21, the election may be postponed until Feb. 9.
In Minnesota, if a candidate of a major party dies within 79 days of the election, that election is postponed. Craig, however, is challenging state law.
“We believe that federal law requires this election to take place in the November general election, not in February, and that is the campaign I will continue to run. In fact, this week I launched a new ad focused on the need for more technical education in this country. I urge every voter in the 2nd Congressional District to continue to vote their full ballots, including for this race,” she said.
Craig later added, “I have heard from many people across the 2nd District who are concerned that they will be without representation at a time when critical legislation affecting them will be considered.”
Kistner is pushing back on Craig’s call to allow the election to move forward. He stated on his campaign’s Facebook page:
“This is about making sure the Second District has representation in the new Congress and that the voters have their votes counted. Unfortunately, the process described by the Secretary of State would deprive Minnesotans of representation at a time when critical legislation affecting our state will be debated in Congress. That’s why I’m asking that this election proceeds as mandated by federal law.”
Kistner’s campaign said last week that, “Craig is trying to play politics with Minnesotans’ voting rights.”
Craig, however, said:
“I’m not sure why my opponent is fighting so hard not to proceed with an election that is already underway. I believe strongly that the voters of this district have the right to have their votes counted in the November election and to have continuous representation in Congress. It is clearly our view that this state law violates federal law. It is appropriate to ask the court to weigh in and that is what we’ve done. If my opponent had the best interests of Minnesotans in minds, he would join me to ensure that the Second District is never without representation.”
Kistner posted on the campaign’s Facebook page on Sept. 25 that his campaign would pause after Weeks’ death “out of respect for his family and friends.”
Kistner’s campaign did not respond to requests for comments about what the candidate will do once the campaign resumes.