Thanks to Pace Automotive, Minnesota Locks, and Blue Sky Bookkeeping for their support.
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. We also previously asked the candidates about their top issues and how they’ll make progress in a divided Congress.
It’s a crowded field for the DFL primary for this open seat. What differentiates you from the other DFL candidates?
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
I’m running for Congress because Washington has left working people behind. I’ve lived a working class life and struggled with the challenges so many families face. I know what it’s like to stretch a paycheck, pay off medical debt, raise a family, and worry about making ends meet. That perspective has shaped my work in the Legislature, where I’ve delivered real results—from putting a mental health professional into every public school in the state, protecting reproductive freedom and expanding access to health care to historic gun violence prevention, strengthening workers’ rights, and lowering costs for families. I’m running on a record of getting things done and a commitment to keep fighting for working people in Congress.
Matt Klein
Of the DFL candidates in this race, I am the only one who has spent my life caring for people, one Minnesotan at a time. I brought that experience to the state senate and will bring it to Congress as well. Beyond my medical experience, I have a track record of delivering results at the state senate–banning payday lenders from our state, creating a prescription drug affordability board, and many other initiatives. CD2 is a swing seat, and I am the only Democrat in the race who has a record of passing bipartisan bills and earning support from both sides of the aisle.
Matt Little
I am the only DFL-endorsed candidate and the only one who publicly committed to abiding by the endorsement 10 months in advance, because I believe in grassroots politics.
My politics don’t come from a book. My politics comes from the people of this district and the people who raised me: from my grandpa, a farmer’s farmer, and the summers I spent working on his farm. From watching my mom’s health hang on distant health insurance bureaucrats, watching my dad lose his job and his pride when the tech bubble burst. I lived these struggles, right here in CD2.
The second district has been my home for my whole life. I grew up around farming and rural Minnesota, raised my family here, and served as Mayor of Lakeville and then your State senator. I know this district in my bones because it made me who I am.
My primary opponents voted to give data centers $300 million in tax breaks. But I say the richest companies in the world don’t deserve any of your tax dollars. And I’ve taken the strongest stance in this race on holding Big Tech accountable for pollution, noise, and energy costs. I’ve seen firsthand what’s at stake for the families I grew up with.
I will not take corporate PAC money, AIPAC money, or dark money. I’ll fight to get dark money out of politics, and I intend to practice what I preach. This seat is too important to give to someone controlled by big money.
Hugh McTavish
I am the only true progressive in this race. I do not take corporate or PAC money and I believe we should work to eliminate Citizens United. I’m a scientist, a Ph.D. biochemist, with 25 U.S. patents, inculding for effective cancer drugs. I’ve got loads of creative ideas. I will change the system. I will give real power to We the People through Jury Democracy. My opponents, in contrast, are all career politicians who have never rocked the boat. If any of them are elected, absolutely nothing about Congress will change. But I will change Congress and how it makes decisions.
Christopher Mosel
(no campaign site)
[No response]
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