Craig, Teirab trade debate jabs in Minnesota’s hottest congressional race

Rep. Angie Craig touted her record as an incumbent while Republican challenger Joe Teirab sought to link the congresswomen to what he called failed Biden administration policies on inflation and immigration in a high-stakes debate Friday.

Craig stressed her bipartisan credentials and frequently responded to questions by Minnesota Public Radio moderator Brian Bakst by saying “I’ve got a bill…” She also wore what appeared to be her congressional pin on a chain around her neck to underscore her status as the representative of the swingy 2nd Congressional District since 2019.

Teirab, meanwhile, used the debate to introduce himself to voters, reminding them often that he is simply “a middle class guy” — though he’s a graduate of Harvard Law School — and speaking of his upbringing in Minnesota, his Sudanese-born father and his career in the Marine Corps  and as a federal prosecutor.

One of his swipes at Craig came during a consideration of abortion when Teirab defended the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade because it allowed states to decide their own abortion policies, something that resulted in new restrictions in about half of the states and the outlawing of all abortions in several of them — even in cases of rape or incest.

Teirab said Minnesotans should be able to decide their own abortion laws and told Craig that “if you want to go back to your home state of Arkansas, you could do that” if she wanted to change more restrictive laws in other states. Craig was raised in a trailer park in Arkansas and became an executive at a Fortune 500 company before being elected to Congress.

One of Craig’s best digs at Teirab was toward the end of the debate when she reminded him that “you still don’t have the endorsement of 2nd District Republicans.” Those Republicans endorsed Teirab’s primary challenger, Tayler Rahm, who accepted a job with the Trump campaign in Minnesota and dropped out of the race.

Craig also repeatedly attacked Teirab as an “anti-abortion activist” who in the past has voiced support for a federal ban on abortions and who sits on the board of a pregnancy crisis center that advises women against abortion.

Teirab said that when his mother was carrying him, she considered an abortion and contacted Planned Parenthood, but changed her mind after visiting a pregnancy crisis center.

“I am glad your mother made a decision that was right for her,” Craig said, adding that other women should have the same right.

Craig also hit Teirab, 37, on comments he made about Social Security during a conversation with voters at a local “Pints and Politics” event where he said the “retirement age should maybe change for me or I should get more of an option to have it privatized.”

At the debate, Teirab said those were off-the-cuff comments and that he would never cut benefits or raise the retirement age for today’s seniors, which include his parents.

Once again, Craig said she had a bill that would address projected shortfalls in the Social Security Trust Fund. The legislation would raise the annual salary cap of $168,000, currently the point at which employees stop paying Social Security taxes.

Throwing gas on a fire

The debate began with a question on the economy and inflation.

Craig responded that she had introduced a bill that would address what she said was a major cause of inflation — price gouging by corporations — and had introduced another bill to lower the price of insulin to $35.

Teirab blamed inflation on “reckless government spending” and high-price tag legislation, including the Inflation Reduction Act that President Biden had initiated and Craig supported.

“You threw gas on that fire,” he said.  

Most economists say ramped-up government spending during the COVID pandemic — which began with former President Donald Trump’s efforts to help Americans who were losing their jobs at a record pace and businesses that were on the brink of insolvency — was a major inflationary cause, as well as supply chain disruptions that sharply increased the prices of many necessities.

While Teirab sought to tie Craig to Biden policies, Craig touted her independence from the administration, especially on issues like immigration and policing. “This is an area where I think the Biden administration has got it wrong,” she said of immigration.

Still, Teirab hit Craig for failing to support an extremely partisan GOP House immigration bill that stood no chance of becoming law. Meanwhile, Craig said she supported a bipartisan Senate immigration bill that Trump derailed because he thought it would help Democratic electoral chances.

While Teirab dodged the question of whether he would seek, as Trump did, to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, he distanced himself from the former president. He also broke with Trump on the issue of who won the 2020 election.

“It was fair and it was unambiguous,” he said of the election. “Joe Biden was elected as president.”

Moreover, Teirab successfully prosecuted a rioter who attacked U.S. Capitol police during the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol and said he did not think the pardons Trump promised the rioters “would be appropriate.”

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