News & Articles

Alert from the CD8 Sports Desk
Pete Stauber has been dropped from Team Congressional District 8 after four years of sub-par performance on the field. 
“We gave him another chance with a second term,” said District Voters. “But he didn’t live up to his promises.”
According to Voters, Stauber has been a loyal backbencher, responding perfectly to the signals from his quarterback, Leader Kevin McCarthy.
“While he promised to deliver for Team CD 8,” said Voters, “he actually worked against the team by voting against the largest bipartisan jobs bill passed in decades.”
“He even went as far as to try to burnish his reputation by bragging about the federal airport grants to our district, even though he voted against the bill.”
Stauber seems to be fighting for his life. He used the word “fighting” a total of seven times in a recent flyer, “a familiar refrain from a man in fear of being dropped from the team,” according to Voters.
In campaign flyers he repeatedly touts his “very first bill,” a bill that he introduced in 2019 but which has not even had a hearing in Congress.
“Some fighter, huh?” said Voters bitterly.
With that kind of record, those of us at CD8 Sports Desk predict that Stauber will have trouble getting a contract with any other Congressional team. He could, of course, sign on as a private contractor in Saudi Arabia, capitalizing on his connection with the leader of Team T****, who gave Pete a ride in his limousine on this first trip to Duluth. But we hear there is fierce competition for a place on foreign teams these days.

For more breaking news from CD8 Sports Desk, tune in Wednesday morning, November 9. 
Leah Rogne
Gheen, Minnesota

Let’s not miss this opportunity!
With the risk of just copying someone else’s work, I don’t think I could find a better piece in support of Jen Schultz for 8th Congressional District congress person to the U.S. House of Representatives than the powerful endorsement by Forum Communications, owner of 7 different news publications across the district including the Duluth News Tribune.

It reads: “For 8 years, Jen Schultz served in a politically divided state legislature – and was able to get important measures passed anyway to help everyday Minnesotans facing addiction, mental health challenges, homelessness, difficulties affording their prescription drugs, and other matters. She has stepped up where government is counted on to provide help and make a real difference.” …

“Working behind the scenes and across the aisle, with a willingness to give and take, builds the sort of bipartisan relationships and support that gets things done and that have helped build Schultz’s record.”
Although in 2018, they endorsed her opponent, Pete Stauber, they now write: the “District largely has been abandoned by an incumbent seemingly more focused on party, and even extreme tangents within his party, than on the people he was elected to serve.” … “Stauber’s votes increasingly have become partisan rather than what’s in the best interest of Minnesota and his constituents. He voted against lowering pharmaceutical and insulin costs, against an independent investigation of Jan. 6, against equal pay, and against grants to make needed repairs to regional airports, as just a few examples. Despite voting against the airport grants, he attempted to publicly tout them anyway.”

“Stauber is no longer the same devoted representative Northeastern Minnesota first sent to D.C. on our behalf in 2018. He’s become unresponsive to constituents and the media alike. This fall he declined to participate in a candidate forum co-hosted by the Duluth News Tribune and the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce, a forum that [for more than] a decade has become the pre-eminent election season event for the 8th District, the best chance for voters to hear from candidates. This was the first time a candidate declined to participate. Stauber’s refusal to answer questions in a public setting and in the largest most populated city in his district seems indicative of his disappointing but emerging party-first/constituents-second representation.”

Stauber didn’t respond to a request for an interview for the editorial, whereas Schultz had already submitted to the Duluth News Tribune’s A Candidate’s View: When we invest in people, we all do better, 9/16/22, with a quite complete background on herself, her legislative accomplishments, voting record, endorsements and ways her opponent has not met people’s needs.

Jen Schultz also has endorsements from: MN AFL-CIO, Duluth Area & Iron Range Building Trades, USW-District 11, NE Area Labor Council, Education MN, National Nurses United, Duluth Mayor Emily Larson, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and more.
She has pledged not to accept corporate PAC money and will be accountable and accessible to the people. … “voters can be impressed and can appreciate Schultz’s background as an economist which helps inform her public service and gives her expertise in important issues like housing, childcare, and health care. The result is better informed and just better policy.”

“I will represent everyone, Schultz vowed, in stark contrast to the current representation.” … ”with a focus on strengthening our democracy.”
Barbara Lund Gabler
Lutsen, Minnesota

Debates are almost civil
I have attended a number of Northern Minnesota state candidate debates and am impressed by how civil they have been. There seems to be general agreement on issues like the need for responsible mining, the need to move away from far right and far left idealism by adopting a more moderate attitude, and the need to work out responsible state government spending, especially concerning the current state surplus.

The biggest area of disagreement revolves around the abortion issue. While both sides claim to be prolife, and they are, the difference lies in how the issue is treated.
Republicans choose control to deal with abortion by creating laws and courts to deny a woman’s right to choose.
Democrats choose to withhold judgment of a woman’s choice, not knowing the woman’s circumstances, and instead to address the causes of abortion.
The most likely way to reduce abortions is to avoid unwanted pregnancies to begin with. This means, among other things, contraception in all its forms. Contraception should be free and readily available to all who seek it.
The same applies to health care, especially for women before, during and after pregnancy. The United States ranks second highest in maternity related deaths among all developed countries.
A case in point is Cuba where contraception, health care (and abortion) are provided free and without question. Cuba has 90% fewer abortions than the United States.
Other factors that increase the call for abortion are stress from violence and poverty and all that poverty encompasses. For example, one in four American women struggle even to afford menstrual products, much less, pregnancy.
Abortion can be reduced but only by care and not by control. Regardless of your political leaning, please vote for care across the board on November 8th.
Jack Pick
Goodland, Minnesota

A message to the MAGA base
When Kevin McCarthy delivered his boilerplate speech about the Republican agenda for Congress if they take over the House in 2023, he made sure Marjorie Taylor-Greene had pride of place directly behind him on the podium. Forget the empty promises about “lower energy prices, a strong economy, a future that is free,” and the like. Greene’s presence was a signal to the MAGA base that the Republican “big tent” will continue to allow QAnon, the Proud Boys, insurrection apologists, and election deniers to have a voice in undermining democracy. 

 ​Robert Ellis
Duluth, Minnesota