Democratic state Rep. Kaela Berg, a flight attendant and union leader, announced Wednesday she’s jumping into the Second Congressional District race to succeed outgoing Rep. Angie Craig.
Berg’s entry makes her the third Democrat in what’s become a crowded race to replace Craig, who is leaving to run for the U.S. Senate. Berg joins physician and Mendota Heights state Sen. Matt Klein and former Lakeville Mayor Matt Little in the race for the Democratic nomination.
Berg, a third-term representative from Burnsville, believes her experience as a union leader and lived experience sets her apart from the other candidates in the race. She’s had to work multiple jobs in the past to get by and went without health insurance during the pandemic.
“When I sit down with people in the community and they’re telling me about the things that they’re worried about, I don’t just understand because we know that things are hard right now, but I understand because it’s my lived experience, too,” Berg said in an interview.
Berg said she took her time deciding if she wanted to run for Congress after the assassination of former DFL House Leader Melissa Hortman over the summer, someone she considered a friend.
“It did give me pause,” Berg said of Hortman’s death. “In the end, I arrived [at] this, if we let fear win, then we’ve really lost, and we cannot allow that.”
Berg will try to win the DFL endorsement but will go to a primary if she doesn’t get it after Klein has already said he will do the same.
Berg enters the race with the endorsement of EMILYs List, a national Democratic group that backs female candidates who are abortion-rights supporters. She also has the endorsement of several unions and more than a dozen fellow Minnesota state representatives.
