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8th District


SNAPSHOT
The 8th District encompasses about 18 Minnesota counties -- mostly rural and farmland. It includes Duluth, Cloquet, Chisolm, Hibbing, Grand Rapids, International Falls, and Brainerd.

The nation's largest deposits of iron here were discovered there in the 1800s -- thus the nickname "Iron Range" that is bestowed upon much of the region.

This has been a DFL district for generations, but there are signs of change according to The Almanac of American Politics. "In 2000, cultural issues like gun control and environmental restrictions moved opinion toward the Republicans." John Kerry won the district, however, on a 53%-to-46% vote in 2004. But he was forced to devote time and resources to the district that traditionally has been a solid blue.

Candidates

Document Rod Grams (R)
Document Jim Oberstar (D)
Harry Welty (Unity)

District Information

District map
Median age: 43
School age:19%
Age 65+: 16%
Percent below poverty: 10.4%
Per capita income: $18,597
Median housing value: $90,003
Percent unemployed: 3%
Percent minority: 5%
Percent college graduate: 11%
Percent less than high school diploma: 10%

The Money Race

CandidateFunds
James Oberstar $1,198,362
Rod Grams $335,143
Polls suggest the war in Iraq will be a major issue for voters in the November election. The two leading candidates in Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District are on opposite sides of the war. (07/26/2006)
Four DFL candidates for the 5th District Congressional seat discussed their views on the fighting between Israel and Lebanon in a debate Tuesday night in Minneapolis. (07/26/2006)
Four of the DFLers seeking to replace retiring 5th District Congressman Martin Sabo debated the war in Iraq, health care and poverty issues Monday. The four DFLers agreed on a number of major national issues, but tried to differentiate themselves based on their experience. (07/24/2006)
Matt Entenza, the DFL-endorsed candidate for attorney general dropped his candidacy Tuesday, setting off a flurry of last-minute filings for the September primary. Five DFL candidates are now in the running. (07/18/2006)
DFL Attorney General candidate Matt Entenza says he's horrified and embarrassed by revelations that a Chicago firm he hired dug for dirt on current DFL Attorney General Mike Hatch. He says he will apologize to Hatch, his fellow Democrat, the party's endorsed candidate for governor. (07/13/2006)
Republican Party officials are calling on two of the state's top Democrats to come clean on an apparent feud between them. (07/12/2006)
Republican Gil Gutknecht is running for re-election in Minnesota's 1st Congressional District, long considered the most conservative in the state. But Democrats say that may be changing, and predict Gutknecht will be vulnerable this time around. (07/07/2006)
The Rev. Jesse Jackson rallied support for DFLer Keith Ellison's campaign for the 5th Congressional District seat in Minneapolis Friday afternoon. (06/30/2006)
If elected, Rep. Keith Ellison would be the first African American congressman from Minnesota and the first Muslim congressman in the nation's history. But Ellison's past, in particular his relationship with the Nation of Islam, are causing some Jewish activists and others to question if he's the best candidate. (06/30/2006)
Patty Wetterling locked down the DFL endorsement in the 6th District on Saturday, setting up what promises to be a rip-roaring battle for Congress with the GOP's conservative candidate, Michele Bachmann. (05/13/2006)
Democrats in the 6th Congressional District will meet Saturday in Monticello to endorse a candidate for the U.S. House. (05/12/2006)
Patty Wetterling and Elwyn Tinklenberg both want to grab Mark Kennedy's House seat for the Democratic Party. They make their cases to the voters in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District. (Midday, 05/10/2006)
If elected, Keith Ellison would be the first African American congressman in Minnesota history. But the endorsement doesn't guarantee that he'll be DFLer on the November ballot because several Democrats say they'll run in a September primary. (05/06/2006)
Bachmann easily won the endorsement contest Saturday in Monticello and is looking ahead to the November election. Her three challengers say they are sticking to their pledge not to run in a primary. (05/06/2006)
Rep. Mark Kennedy has set his sights on the U.S. Senate, and there is a heated race underway for the Republican endorsement to take his place in Congress. (Midday, 05/03/2006)
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