Democrats got some very welcome news on Friday when Rep. Collin Peterson announced that he’d seek a 16th term in his conservative northwest Minnesota seat. The 7th District backed Donald Trump by a punishing 62-31 margin, which makes it by far the reddest Democratic-held seat in the nation, and the GOP would almost certainly have won it had Peterson decided to retire.
However, Team Red still has a chance to flip the seat even with the incumbent in the race. Back in 2016, Peterson only defeated a barely-funded Republican named Dave Hughes by an unexpectedly close 52.5-47.5 margin in a race that attracted no outside attention. Hughes ran again in 2018 and raised more money than before, but he still brought in relatively little cash and attracted no major outside help. Peterson won by a slightly smaller 52.1-47.8 margin, though, in what turned out to be his closest contest since he won re-election for the first time back in 1992.
Hughes is running once again, but this time, national Republicans are making sure they have someone considerably stronger on the ballot. Donald Trump has endorsed former Lt. Gov. Michelle Fischbach, and she ended December with a credible $204,000 warchest. Peterson had a considerably larger $1 million available, though, and the chairman of the powerful House Agriculture Committee should be able to bring in more now that he’s decided to run again.
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