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West St. Paul’s State Senator Matt Klein announces he’s running for Congress, leaving his senate seat up for grabs. Let the musical chairs of election season begin. It started last week when U.S. Rep. Angie Craig announced her run for U.S. Senate. Now Klein is running for her seat, and others are scrambling for Klein’s seat.
2026 Second Congressional District
Klein made his announcement on Tuesday, launching his campaign site and touting his solutions-oriented approach and endorsements from two unions—Minnesota Pipe Trades Association and Iron Workers Local 512. First elected to the state senate in 2016, Klein previously served on the ISD 197 School Board.
Moderate: Earlier this year he joined the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of eight DFL senators who hope to embrace bipartisan solutions. That moderate approach will be reflected in his run for Congress.
- “That’s sort of the path that has been victorious in the past here,” Klein said in a Star Tribune story. “Not only appealing to progressives, but also hearing the voices of our farmers, our law enforcement agents, our veterans, our seniors.”
Bipartisan: Klein also emphasized working across the aisle: “What I’ve shown in my work, not just as a doctor for 30 years, but here at the Legislature, is that I’m willing to work with people from any party in any background, so that we can deliver results for the people we care for,” he said in a Pioneer Press story.
- On Tuesday, Klein and five other Blue Dog Democrats joined Senate Republicans to pass a bill that loosened standards for paid sick leave, exempting some small farms and small businesses.
Federal level: How does that bipartisanship extend to Washington? Klein told the Star Tribune he’d be willing to work with President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—with some caveats.
- “I actually share the president’s passion for cutting government waste and removing bureaucracy, and I would be willing to partner with him on that, if we can do it well,” Klein said. “Unfortunately, I think he’s taken a clumsy and a reckless and a brutal approach to addressing that issue and has caused harm to working people and dangers to seniors in our public health.”
- “I’m absolutely willing to work with anybody, especially somebody who is the HHS secretary. They have an important voice in our public policy,” Klein said. “Having said that, I won’t deviate from what I think is the truth about good health and about scientific fact, and I’m willing to stand up for that.”
Opposition: Klein will likely face a crowded field. Former State Senator and former Lakeville Mayor Matt Little announced his run last week. No one else has officially announced, but the rumors include State Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL operative Mike Norton, Republican State Sen. Eric Pratt, and former CD2 GOP candidates Joe Teirab and Tyler Kistner, as well as Richard Painter as an independent (that would be an interesting twist as multiple times third parties drew more than the margin of victory and twice the third-party candidate died before the election).
2026 Senate District 53
Klein committed to running for the primary even if he doesn’t get the DFL endorsement, which means he’s leaving his senate seat completely open. The district covers the southern half of West St. Paul, part of Mendota Heights, all of South St. Paul, Inver Grove Heights, Newport, St. Paul Park, and more. Klein won 58% of the vote in the most recent election in 2022.
Potential candidates abound for the open seat:
- Impending: South St. Paul School Board Member Paul Cumings, who has worked in state government for nearly 20 years, is exploring a run and expects to make an announcement this week.
- Representatives: The current state representatives in the district are Rick Hansen and Mary Francis Clardy. Hansen expressed interest in the seat, but said he wouldn’t make a decision until the budget is finalized: “Until that work is done, I will not be making any decision,” he said. “We have work to do.” Clardy said she’s not running.
- West St. Paul: Since Senate District 53 only covers half of West St. Paul, only a few West St. Paul Council Members are eligible. Council Member Lisa Eng-Sarne said she won’t run, but Mayor Dave Napier said he’s considering it but wouldn’t say more. (Update: Napier ruled out a run.)
- More: Our sources indicate multiple other people are “very interested” in running for the seat. The filing period to run doesn’t close until June 2, 2026, so we have a long campaign season.
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