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There’s a DFL primary race for the U.S. House second Congressional district that includes Dakota County. The winner will advance to the general election in November. We’ve asked the candidates a series of questions to see where they stand on the issues. We’ll share one question and the responses at a time leading up to the primary election on August 11.
More: See our 2026 primary voters guide for more.
What are your two to three top priorities as a representative and how will you address those issues? What made you decide to focus on those issues in particular?
We posed this question to all candidates. Here are their responses:
Candidates for U.S. House Minnesota’s Second Congressional District
This is an open seat with no incumbent.
Abdi Abdulle
[No response]
Kaela Berg
As a flight attendant and single mom, I’ve worked up to three jobs to keep food on the table. In Congress, I’m going to work to lower the costs of groceries, housing, childcare and utilities. I’m also going to fight to take on the corruption that’s rigged the system for millionaires, put an end to Trump’s tariffs, and end corporate price gouging.
Too many Minnesotans are rationing medications or going into debt. I’ve gone without healthcare, I know that pain. That’s why I’ll push for universal healthcare, tackle medical debt, and end corporate consolidation.
I’m proud to have codified our reproductive rights into our state statute here in Minnesota. I’ll fight to do the same in Congress and protect contraception and IVF access.
Matt Klein
Health care affordability and access. My experience as a physician of 35 years, much of that time at Hennepin Healthcare, confirmed my belief that healthcare is a human right. With one trillion dollars in cuts to Medical Assistance coming from HR 1, all Americans will face a cost crisis in healthcare. Cuts to tax credits for health insurance will create huge healthcare costs for small business owners and farmers. I’m eager to bring the experiences of my patients to Washington DC and move toward a better system.
Democracy and justice. We need to restore our Constitution in this moment and ensure justice, particularly for the victims of federal agents over the winter. Congress must reassert its power over taxation and conflict and rein in Trump.
Affordability in all areas–housing, groceries, education, and gas prices. Minnesotans are telling me that they can’t afford their lives and are making hard choices between groceries and gas or health care. We must restore the American opportunity for working families.
Matt Little
Affordability. America has an affordability crisis. Housing, healthcare, childcare, and groceries have outpaced income for decades. The problem isn’t scarce resources, but concentrated power and wealth. When the top 1% hold more than the bottom 90% combined, something is fundamentally broken. It’s the result of policy choices that have rewarded wealth over work. I’ll fight to build more housing, pass a wealth tax, cap student loan interest, expand the Child Tax Credit and childcare subsidies, and establish universal pre-K.
Medicare for All. When my mom got seriously ill, our family spent years battling the insurance companies. No one should have to go through that. Tinkering won’t fix it. Wasteful insurance bureaucrats create enormous administrative costs and ridiculous CEO salaries, without accountability. I’ll fight to expand Medicare drug negotiation and pass Medicare for All to reduce prices and expand coverage.
Corruption: Trump’s White House is corrupt: accepting a Qatari jet for trade deals, suing political enemies, and pardoning crypto fraudsters. But when Democrats take millions in corporate PAC money and fail to pursue anti-corruption laws, we endorse a corrosive message. I’ll fight to pass the strongest anti-corruption laws in American history and get dark money out of politics.
Hugh McTavish
(1) Giving real power to ordinary citizens through a process I call Jury Democracy. We would hold a trial on important bills before a large jury of randomly invited citizens. Both supporters and opponents of the bill would make their case. The jurors would discuss with each other and then vote by secret ballot.
(2) Cut income and payroll taxes IN HALF and replace that revenue with a wealth tax only on weath over $1.5 million starting at 2% and rising to 8% on wealth over $300 million.
(3) Re-wild 1% of US land every year for a decade. Have the federal government buy that land and then let it go back to nature. Share the planet with other species.
Christopher Mosel
(no campaign site)
[No response]
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