KAXE contacted every candidate up to three times using contact information submitted to the Secretary of State's Office to invite them to participate in our Election Guide.
Candidate responses have not been edited and are published as submitted.
As necessary, our news team added contextual information clearly marked with an "editor's note" and in italics. We will make every effort to make note of inaccuracies if they come to our attention.
Please contact our news team at news@kaxe.org with questions or comments or to report any errors.
KAXE's Primary Election Guide only includes races where enough candidates filed to trigger a primary. Visit our full list of who's running for office in Northern Minnesota to see who else will be on the ballot in November.
About this race
Minnesota's 8th Congressional District spans much of Northern Minnesota, including the Arrowhead; Brainerd lakes area; Beltrami, Clearwater, Mahnomen and Lake of the Woods counties; and part of Becker and Hubbard counties.
Republican Rep. Pete Stauber is running for reelection.
The winner of this primary will face the winner of the Republican primary in the general election in November to represent Minnesota's 8th District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Remember: In the primaries, you can only vote for candidates from one political party. If you vote for candidates from more than one party, your vote won't be counted. You decide which party you will vote for, as Minnesota doesn't have political party registration.
Click the tabs below to learn more about the candidates
Website: lukegulbranson.com
Age on Election Day: 42
Community: I live in Eveleth, where I was born and raised.
Employment: I am a small businessman and hockey coach. My main small business is a maple syrup company.
Please share any prior experience and education that you believe qualifies you for office.
My lived experience has prepared and motivated me to run for office. I am a fourth generation Iron Ranger, and my family really struggled growing up. We got by with the help of government programs like food assistance, free school lunches, and energy assistance. When my dad was able to get a union job with the 49ers, life got more stable. From these experiences, I understand the people of the district and the struggles they face, the importance of good union jobs and the stability they provide, and the importance of protecting programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid that are currently under threat.
Why are you running?
I am running because for too long, working people and the middle class have been getting the short end of the stick. Pete Stauber, and far too many members of Congress, are looking out for themselves and the wealthy. We need a representative who will fight selflessly, not selfishly, every day so that working families can live and thrive in Minnesota.
Why should voters choose you to advance to the general election?
I will fight everyday for the people of the North and Central Minnesota in Congress. First, we have to win, and as an Iron Ranger, union member, and small business owner - I am the best candidate to take on Pete Stauber. I’m running because families across the 8th district are struggling. Their costs are going up and their wages are nowhere near keeping up. And who is Pete Stauber looking out for? The big money and special interests calling the shots. I’m not a politician and I’m not running to serve the rich and the powerful. I’m running to serve my friends and neighbors in Minnesota so they get a fair shot and a voice in their future.
What are your top three priorities, if elected? Please describe specific policy goals.
My top three priorities are to lower the cost of essential goods and services, protect Social Security and Medicare, and stand up for unions and workers. First, to lower the cost of essentials, I will tackle the rising cost of healthcare head-on. On protecting Social Security and Medicare, I will support and vote for a bill that reverses the barbaric cuts made to these programs in the One Big Ugly Bill. Finally, as someone who understands the power of a union job, I will stand up for unions and working people. I will advocate for fair working conditions at all places of work and accountability for corporations that treat their employees unfairly.
What are your natural resources policy positions?
My grandfather was a foreman at the Oliver mine. My uncles and dad were heavy equipment operators and Local 49 union members. I know that mining is not only a path to the middle class for thousands of people but the backbone of towns across the district. I also have always had a deep love of the outdoors, like so many people across this district.
I don’t support mining in the area near the Boundary Waters and would have voted no on Pete Stauber’s bill that ends protection for that piece of federal land. The Boundary Waters are too important to us, to our water, to our way of life here.
However, I support mining, including copper-nickel mining, at currently operating mines and at proposed sites under development if companies meet all rules and regulations necessary to do so.
How would you ensure constituents who didn’t vote for you still feel represented?
We send one person to Washington DC to be accountable and responsive to each and every person across our district, and I would always work hard to do that if elected. It would be a priority to hire excellent staff representative of the district, to return home and be present in the district outside of session, and to hold regular town hall meetings across the district.
What would you do if what’s best for your district differed from your party’s position on an issue?
I'm running for Congress to represent this district. Not a party. Not a president. And certainly not corporations and the wealthy - which is why I will not accept a dime of Corporate PAC money.
Every decision I make will be based on conversations with constituents right here at home.
Website: munterforcongress.substack.com
Age on Election Day: 77
Community: Warba, MN
Employment: I am retired on my hobby farm and work as an author.
Please share any prior experience and education that you believe qualifies you for office.
I look for solutions. During the LIne 3 pipeline hearings I was solely responsible for pushing the State to remove defunct pipelines from private properties with my study showing the pipes were not too close together to be removed safely.
Why are you running?
I may be old but I can do my age in push-ups and am mentally agile. For example, 21 corporations in Duluth own 10 or more single family homes which should be reserved for young people building equity--addressed perhaps by taxation, 300 feet separations, or national private equity bans.
Why should voters choose you to advance to the general election?
I have had published in the Duluth News Tribune countless opinion pieces on the issues of the day for the past six years. I feel, also, that I have the best appreciation of many conservative viewpoints betrayed by the current Administration and MN 8 Congress Member as well as liberal viewpoints. See MunterforCongress.substack.com
What are your top three priorities, if elected? Please describe specific policy goals.
Jobs, housing, and health care--1) rejecting the data center and copper nickel mining because they threaten more jobs than they create. I support taxes on AI chips and tokens to pay for the white collar job apocalypse retraining 2) I support Ro Khanna's plan to create 3 million more homes paid for with windfall profits tax on oil companies as well as a nation-wide ban on private equity buying up single family homes. I support single payer health care which cuts the cost by half and group buying by the US of pharmaceuticals.
What are your natural resources policy positions?
Copper nickel mining in Northern Minnesota is stupid in creating toxic waste piles threatening our hospitality. fishing, and tourism industries. The iron ore industry should do better in mercury reduction. Pulsar Helium is non-polluting and promising hundreds of jobs in years to come with great drilling results.
How would you ensure constituents who didn’t vote for you still feel represented?
We all want the same things--jobs, housing, and health care and I look forward to debating the fine points of issues with everyone. I think we all have the common sense that we can no longer afford this extended American empire and need to focus on economies at home.
What would you do if what’s best for your district differed from your party’s position on an issue?
They can go jump in Lake Superior. I have always thought the Ukraine War was stupid in pushing NATO nukes 6 minutes fly time to Moscow--and aid to Israel in the Gaza genocide was evil. The current US Military-Israel fusion (Section 224 of the NDAA) is treasonous but 94% of Congress takes money from the Israeli lobby. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie are my heroes for getting some Epstein files released working across the aisle.
Editor’s note: Roughly 94% of current members of Congress have accepted campaign funds from pro-Israel lobbyists, according to Track AIPAC.
Website: trinaforcongress.com
Age on Election Day: 46
Community: Hermantown
Employment: JET Global Solutions, LLP, Founding Partner and Attorney
Please share any prior experience and education that you believe qualifies you for office.
I began my career as a public servant at just 18 years old at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. This was my job throughout college and law school. I then joined U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, where I served for almost 20 years. I represented our country in Minnesota, Washington, D.C., Germany, and Kenya. I led international operations and national emergency responses, combated national security and criminal threats, and ensured immigration benefits were granted lawfully, all while working for administrations of both parties, to keep Americans safe. I left a career I loved when I was asked to do things I believed were unethical. I will use my experience in foreign policy, national security, immigration, and public service to hit the ground running on day one.
Why are you running?
I grew up in a working-class home in Hermantown. My Mom was a nurse, and my Dad was a carpenter, later working at the paper mill. Our kitchen conversations weren't about politics. They were about making ends meet, looking out for neighbors, and believing that if you worked hard enough, you could build a comfortable life. I learned that unions strengthen the middle class, that communities thrive when people show up for each other, and that honest work should buy you a life with dignity, not constant insecurity. That's not happening in northern and central Minnesota. The current Representative is putting corporate interests and profits before the working people trying to raise families and retire with dignity. I want to continue my service to this country as an elected official, drawing upon the experience and leadership skills I gained as a 25-year public servant.
Why should voters choose you to advance to the general election?
Competence, experience, leadership, integrity, grit. These are the traits I will bring to the job on day one. This election is far too important to put forward a candidate without the experience to do the job. I understand the issues. I worked in Washington, D.C. I know why Washington works, but more importantly, why it doesn’t work. I spent my career serving under both parties, bringing people with diverse backgrounds and opinions to the table, identifying solutions, and building coalitions to implement those solutions. Congress needs to get back to this approach, crossing the aisle to solve problems. Furthermore, I am the Candidate that can win in November. I have already shown up for public forums in all 21 counties, answered unscripted questions, and engaged on complicated issues. I earned the DFL endorsement in May on the very first ballot with over 70% of delegates voting for me.
What are your top three priorities, if elected? Please describe specific policy goals.
Universal healthcare, proper federal funding for childcare, schools, hospitals, and programs the working class relies upon, and attracting new industries with good-paying jobs to the district. I will fight from day one for universal healthcare. We get to decide what our values are and how we spend our money. We currently have a representative who supports cuts to programs that the middle class relies upon, so the 1% can receive greater tax breaks. Minnesota pays more in federal taxes than it receives back in federal funding. I will fight for Minnesota to receive proper federal funding, rather than placing the responsibility on the state, resulting in property tax increases. I will advocate for new industry investment like clean energy and green steel production, with good-paying union jobs. People should be able to stay in the communities they love, raise families, and retire with dignity.
What are your natural resources policy positions?
Generations to come must be able to enjoy this amazing land we call home. We must ensure we have clean water. That means we use science, the experts, and regulatory processes to ensure corporations use the most advanced technological means in their industries to minimize the impact on the environment and manage natural resources sustainably. I will ensure proper funding for federal agencies with oversight of our natural resources, to include returning to proper staffing levels after DOGE cuts, and reopening offices that closed, like the U.S. Forest Service research facility in Grand Rapids. Mining cannot be allowed in the BWCA watershed. However, we can continue to advance technologies for mining in the Iron Range, and hold corporations accountable, so mining is done in a responsible manner, minimizing the impact on the environment and water.
How would you ensure constituents who didn’t vote for you still feel represented?
I will show up. A Representative is just that, a representative of all people in their district. I will continue to show up in all 21 counties. This district is so vast and varied that what’s most important to one area may not be the most important issue in another. I will make decisions based on what I think is best for the greatest number of people in the district. In order to do this, I will engage. I will have offices staffed around the district, so constituents feel heard. I will hold town halls in person, without requiring prescreened questions. I will explain why I voted for or against a bill, take feedback, and learn and grow. But, this all starts by electing people with integrity, who understand the issues and the implications for the district. I am that person for CD-8.
What would you do if what’s best for your district differed from your party’s position on an issue?
I will fight for what’s best for the district. I am not running for office for power or to spend decades in the position. It is time to break out of voting party lines and instead come together in Congress to solve problems. For too long now, each side tries to score political points and win elections by politicizing serious issues like immigration, the future of Social Security, taxes, and health care. Rather than worrying about the next election cycle, Representatives need to govern, represent the people, and get things done. We have seen a Congress unwilling to stand up to this Administration and the dangerous implications of their unwillingness. I will take my oath seriously, an oath to defend the Constitution, rather than a party or administration. That’s what I did in my 25-year career as a public servant.
Still have questions for the candidates? Contact information for all those who've filed to run for office can be found at candidates.sos.state.mn.us.
-
Contributed/Lorie ShaullMonths before the midterms, the Trump administration dismantled a bipartisan federal commission that serves local offices that oversee voting. -
Lorie Shaull/Special to KAXEThe library matched the anonymous matching donation for $30,000 it received in June 2026. A larger fundraising goal is aimed at increasing public hours in 2027. -
Contributed/University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Science and Engineering CenterDue to smoke from Boundary Waters wildfires, the MPCA issued air quality alerts for large parts of Minnesota. The alert lasts until at least Friday, July 16, 2026. -
During the Phenology Report for the week of July 14, 2026 Staff Phenologist John Latimer remarks on blooming basswoods, hawks hunting in harvested fields, and more.
