Minnesota's 8th Congressional District election, 2026

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Minnesota's 8th Congressional District
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: Pending
Primary: August 11, 2026 General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in Minnesota
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
Minnesota's 8th Congressional District U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th Minnesota elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House raceArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House raceFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House raceOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House raceTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House raceVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House raceSubmit

All U.S. House districts, including the 8th Congressional District of Minnesota, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Incumbent Pete Stauber, Emanuel Anastos, Cyle Cramer, John-Paul McBride, and Chad McKenna are running in the general election for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Pete Stauber (R)
	Submit photo	Emanuel Anastos (D)
		Cyle Cramer (D)
	Submit photo	John-Paul McBride (D)
	Submit photo	Chad McKenna (D)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Cyle Cramer

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "Cyle Cramer is a Democratic candidate running for the U.S. House to represent Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. He is a lifelong problem-solver who brings grit, determination, and practical experience to the challenges facing people across northeastern Minnesota. Cramer’s campaign focuses on real-world solutions on the issues people care about. He emphasizes tough negotiation over partisanship and believes in turning good ideas into action. He is committed to showing up, listening, and getting results that matter."

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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Cyle's service in Congress will be what it’s meant to be: a voice for the people he represents.

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Cyle believes in strengthening America, promoting opportunity, and that when an individual’s rights are threatened all of our rights are threatened.

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Cyle goal is delivering results and negotiation instead of partisan gridlock.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Minnesota

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Expand all | Collapse all

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Cyle Cramer (D)

Cyle's service in Congress will be what it’s meant to be: a voice for the people he represents.

Cyle believes in strengthening America, promoting opportunity, and that when an individual’s rights are threatened all of our rights are threatened.

Cyle goal is delivering results and negotiation instead of partisan gridlock.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Cyle Cramer (D)

Cyle believes every community deserves investment to keep people there and to rebuild thriving small-town America.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Cyle Cramer (D)

Listening to constituents and negotiation over partisanship.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Cyle Cramer (D)

Hearing from constituents directly and embracing new approaches to ensure every suggestion and criticism is heard and valued.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Cyle Cramer (D)

My very first job was a camp counselor at a cub scout camp. I later was a camp counselor for adults and kids with disabilities.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

Cyle Cramer (D)

The U.S. House of Representatives has short terms (2 years) and many districts that help capture different voices in America.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

Cyle Cramer (D)

Previous experience in government and politics is helpful but not necessary for representatives. The most important traits for representatives is knowledge of effective law and policy making.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Cyle Cramer (D)

Rebuilding trust in our government and those we disagree with.

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

Cyle Cramer (D)

Yes.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Cyle Cramer (D)

Jim Oberstar was the long-time representative for Minnesota's 8th Congressional district. He helped pass important legislation for employee and labor protections that I think are vital to a strong working class.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Cyle Cramer (D)

Negotiation is central to effective and lasting policy. We live in an extremely partisan system right now where as soon as one party gets in control it does everything it can, simply to get undone when the other party gets in control...just to then get reversed again. It's not a sustainable or efficient way to govern.

You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Pete Stauber

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Pete Stauber	Republican Party	$614,915	$365,488	$777,921	As of June 30, 2025
Emanuel Anastos	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Cyle Cramer	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
John-Paul McBride	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Chad McKenna	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: Minnesota's 8th Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	9/2/2025	8/26/2025	8/19/2025	8/12/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

This section will contain information on ballot access related to this state's elections when it is available.

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

2024

See also: Minnesota's 8th Congressional District election, 2024

Minnesota's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 13 Republican primary)

Minnesota's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 13 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Incumbent Pete Stauber defeated Jennifer Schultz in the general election for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Stauber (R)	58.0	244,498
		Jennifer Schultz (D)	41.9	176,724
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	384

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 421,606
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Jennifer Schultz defeated John Munter in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on August 13, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jennifer Schultz	91.0	32,149
		John Munter	9.0	3,194

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 35,343
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Incumbent Pete Stauber defeated Harry Welty in the Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on August 13, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Stauber	90.5	36,928
		Harry Welty	9.5	3,874

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 40,802
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2022

See also: Minnesota's 8th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Incumbent Pete Stauber defeated Jennifer Schultz in the general election for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Stauber (R)	57.2	188,755
		Jennifer Schultz (D)	42.7	141,009
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	316

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 330,080
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Jennifer Schultz defeated John Munter in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jennifer Schultz	86.1	38,545
		John Munter	13.9	6,199

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 44,744
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Theresa Lastovich (D)
• Ernest Oppegaard-Peltier (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Incumbent Pete Stauber defeated Harry Welty in the Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Stauber	91.0	51,410
		Harry Welty	9.0	5,075

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 56,485
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: Minnesota's 8th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Incumbent Pete Stauber defeated Quinn Nystrom, Judith Schwartzbacker, John Evans, and David Pipho in the general election for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Stauber (R)	56.8	223,432
		Quinn Nystrom (D)	37.6	147,853
	Submit photo	Judith Schwartzbacker (Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota)	5.6	22,190
	Submit photo	John Evans (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0
	Submit photo	David Pipho (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	236

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 393,711
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Quinn Nystrom advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Quinn Nystrom	100.0	46,050

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 46,050 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Gaylene Spolarich (D)
• Marjorie Holmstrom-Sabo (D)
• Soren Christian Sorensen (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Incumbent Pete Stauber defeated Harry Welty in the Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Stauber	93.7	39,058
		Harry Welty	6.3	2,606

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 41,664 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota primary election

Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Judith Schwartzbacker advanced from the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Judith Schwartzbacker	100.0	540

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 540 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

District analysis

This section will contain facts and figures related to this district's elections when those are available.

See also

Minnesota	2026 primaries	2026 U.S. Congress elections
Minnesota congressional delegation Voting in Minnesota Minnesota elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018	Democratic primary battlegrounds Republican primary battlegrounds U.S. Senate Democratic primaries U.S. Senate Republican primaries U.S. House Democratic primaries U.S. House Republican primaries	U.S. Congress elections U.S. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

Minnesota's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Amy Klobuchar (D)

Tina Smith (D)

Representatives

District 1

Brad Finstad (R)

District 2

Angie Craig (D)

District 3

Kelly Morrison (D)

District 4

Betty McCollum (D)

District 5

Ilhan Omar (D)

District 6

Tom Emmer (R)

District 7

Michelle Fischbach (R)

District 8

Pete Stauber (R)

Democratic Party (6)

Republican Party (4)

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