MN-02: Fundraising prowess may not be enough for GOP House challenger Tyler Kistner

ANALYSIS — Marine veteran Tyler Kistner is one of the few Republican challengers to outraise a Democratic incumbent in the second quarter of the year. But his difficult path to election in the Twin Cities suburbs in Minnesota is a microcosm of the House GOP’s struggle nationwide as President Donald Trump labors to repeat his 2016 performance.

On paper, Minnesota’s 2nd District should be one of Republicans’ top takeover opportunities anywhere in the country. In the GOP’s quest for a net gain of 17 seats, Republican politicians and strategists cite the 30 districts Trump carried in 2016 that are currently represented by a Democrat as empirical proof of the party’s legitimate chance of taking back the majority.

And after losing 41 seats and their House majority in 2018, most Republicans believed Trump would be an asset in 2020 by turning out his supporters who didn’t vote in the midterms, thus boosting down-ballot candidates. Yet with his slumping job approval rating due to his response to the coronavirus and race relations, the president has become a liability in many districts, and he’s on pace to win just a fraction of those 30 seats he won four years ago.

As a 32-year-old military veteran with a credible outsider message and a proven ability to raise money, Kistner is the type of challenger Republicans need to run in competitive districts. Yet Kistner could become a casualty of a tough district and a difficult cycle for his party.



https://www.rollcall.com/2020/07/29/fundraising-prowess-may-not-be-enough-for-gop-house-challenger-tyler-kistner/