Angie Craig

Angela Dawn Craig (born February 14, 1972) is an American politician, retired journalist, and former businesswoman. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), she has served as the U.S. representative from Minnesota's 2nd congressional district since 2019. The district includes most of the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities and its outlying rural areas.

Born and raised in Arkansas, Craig worked in journalism and corporate communications. She moved to Minnesota in 2005 for a job at St. Jude Medical. Craig first ran for Congress in 2016, losing to Jason Lewis, whom she defeated in their 2018 rematch.

Craig is the first openly LGBT+ member of Congress from Minnesota and the first lesbian mother to serve in Congress.

Craig was born in West Helena, Arkansas, in 1972. She graduated from Nettleton High School in Jonesboro and earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Memphis.

After college, Craig interned at The Commercial Appeal and became a full-time reporter. She lived in London from 2002 through 2005, and worked at St. Jude Medical in human resources and communications from 2005 to 2017.

Elections

2016

In 2016, Craig ran for the United States House of Representatives in Minnesota's 2nd congressional district. She announced her candidacy before Republican incumbent John Kline announced his retirement. She faced no opposition in the Democratic primary. In the general election, she faced former conservative talk show host Jason Lewis. She lost by fewer than 7,000 votes.

2018

Craig sought a rematch with Lewis in the 2018 elections. As in 2016, she was unopposed in the Democratic primary. In the general, she defeated Republican primary nominee Lewis, whose candor was felt to be his eventual undoing. Regarding slavery, for instance, he said in 2016, "If you don't want to own a slave, don't, but don't tell other people they can't."

In 2018, she defeated Lewis, becoming the first openly lesbian mother to be elected to Congress, the first woman to be elected in Minnesota's 2nd district, and the first openly gay person elected to Congress from Minnesota. Craig received 52.6% of the vote, winning three of the six counties in the district.

2020

In a verified recording, Legal Marijuana Now Party nominee Adam Weeks said that Republican operatives offered him $15,000 to run for Congress in the 2nd district in order to "pull votes away" from Craig. Weeks said, "They want me to run as a third-party, liberal candidate, which I'm down. I can play the liberal, you know that." Leaders of prominent pro-marijuana legalization groups Minnesotans for Responsible Marijuana Regulation, Sensible Change Minnesota, and Minnesota NORML condemned the GOP strategy as "unconscionable".

In late September, Weeks died of a drug overdose, throwing the election into chaos. Minnesota law requires a special election if a major-party nominee dies within 79 days of Election Day. The law was enacted to prevent a repeat of the circumstances of the 2002 U. S. Senate election, in which incumbent Paul Wellstone died 11 days before the general election. Since the Legal Marijuana Now Party was a major party in Minnesota (by virtue of its 2018 candidate for state auditor winning five percent of the vote), the 2nd District race was set to be postponed to February 9, 2021. Craig sued to keep the election on November 3, arguing that the requirement for a special election could leave the 2nd district without representation for almost a month, and also violated federal election law. Republican nominee Tyler Kistner joined the Minnesota Secretary of State as a defendant. The federal judge hearing the case ruled for Craig, noting that federal election law barred moving the date of House elections in all but a few circumstances. Kistner appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which also sided with Craig. The appeals court held that the death of a candidate from a party with "modest electoral strength" could not justify postponing the election. After Kistner's appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected, the election was cleared to continue as scheduled on November 3.

2022

In the 2022 election, Craig defeated Republican nominee Tyler Kistner in a rematch of the 2020 election with 51% of the vote.

Tenure

According to the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, Craig held a Bipartisan Index Score of 0.3 in the 116th United States Congress for 2019, placing her 114th out of 435 members.

During Donald Trump's presidency, Craig voted in line with Trump's stated position 5.5% of the time. As of June 2022, Craig had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.

On February 25, 2022, Craig introduced the Affordable Insulin Now Act, a bill intended to cap out-of-pocket insulin prices at $35 per month. The bill passed the House.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit
  • Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management
• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Communications & Technology
  • Subcommittee on Consumer Protection & Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Health
• Committee on Small Business
  • Rural Development, Agriculture, Trade, and Entrepreneurship
  • Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations

Past

• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (2019–2021)

Caucus memberships

• Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus (Co-chair)
• Congressional Progressive Caucus (2019-2021)
• New Democrat Coalition
• House Pro-Choice Caucus

In 2020, Craig moved to Prior Lake, Minnesota, after living in Eagan, Minnesota, for nearly 10 years. She and her wife, Cheryl Greene, have four sons who were teenagers during her first congressional general election in 2016.

Craig was physically assaulted in the elevator of her apartment building in Washington, D.C., on February 9, 2023.