Pete Stauber Beats Joe Radinovich In Race For 8th Congressional District

People across the state closely watched the race for control of Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. Pete Stauber beat out Crosby native Joe Radinovich Tuesday night for the seat left open after the retirement of Rick Nolan.

Family and supporters of Joe Radinovich gathered at the Arrowwood Lodge in Baxter Tuesday night to watch results come in.

“This is the end of a long several months of effort, and I think everybody is ready for election season to be over, but we’re feeling cautiously optimistic tonight. It’s going to be a very close race we expect,” said Democratic candidate Joe Radinovich early in the night.

As results started to come in, Pete Stauber, the Republican candidate from the Duluth area, took an early lead.

“It really comes down to maybe specific places in certain counties, and maybe we want to hit a certain number in St. Louis County, but every election is a little bit different,” said Radinovich.

The current Congressman from the 8th District, Rick Nolan, was there to support the candidate who previously worked for his campaign.

“He ran a very good campaign. A strong campaign, positive, on the issues, protecting Social Security, protecting Medicare, getting healthcare prescription costs under control,” said Nolan.

The Radinovich team remained hopeful as the night progressed, even as Stauber held on to his lead.

“I’m still confident for Joe. My election contest, 2016, 2014, 2012, we were always about his far behind at this point in the night,” said Nolan.

At around 11:40 p.m. Radinovich, trailing, addressed the crowd. He did not officially concede, but he thanked his supporters for the help that they gave him throughout his campaign.

“This is a close race. We have many precincts left to go, but there is no doubt it looks like the odds will be long,” Radinovich said as he addressed his supporters.

When all precincts in the 8th District were in, Pete Stauber had solidified his win with 51 percent of the votes to Radinovich’s 45 percent.

“We know that even if it’s a loss that we are not defeated, that the things that we stand for are not defeated, that the ideals that we hold are not defeated, that the values that we stand for are not defeated,” added Radinovich.

While the Radinovich team was disappointed, he thanked his supporters and was hopeful for the future.

“We are going to get back up and we are going to keep fighting because our community requires it, because our state requires it, and because our country requires it. We have an opportunity to stand up and to keep fighting on behalf of every child growing up across the state, to fight on behalf of a better future for everybody,” said Radinovich. “To fight on behalf of the idea that our best days are yet to come.”

Pete Stauber will become the second Republican in 70-plus years to be elected to represent Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District.