Meet Thomas Craft, new Democratic challenger to Rep. John Kline in Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District.
I don't think anyone has reported this yet but Rep. John Kline has a new Democratic challenger. As of a few weeks ago, Thomas Craft has launched a campaign to unseat Kline.
Judging from his official announcement at the State Capital of Minnesota, Craft seems to have fire in his belly for his race. He even brings up the many times which Congress (namely House Speaker John Boehner's Congress) has voted to repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act 38 times as a means of the current Congress's lack of credibility.
St. Paul – Standing in the Capitol rotunda, Thomas Craft, 30, of Eagan, announced his candidacy for the 2nd Congressional District seat currently held by Republican John Kline. Craft will seek the Democratic Party’s endorsement in his campaign to unseat the incumbent in the 2014 midterm election.
Craft said the current dysfunction in Congress drove him to take action.
“Our country faces great problems – real problems – that need serious, dedicated leaders to solve,” he said. “If we had that kind of leadership in Congress today, then we wouldn’t be facing the mess we are in.”
Craft said he hopes to restore accountability in Congress by answering to constituents instead of lobbyists. He said that if elected, the first piece of legislation he intends to bring to the floor will “give the American people a voice” to bring about a constitutional convention in hopes of resolving many critical issues facing the country today including personal privacy, money in politics and limits on presidential powers.
He said his second piece of legislation would focus on job creation, by calling for investments in education, retraining assistance, infrastructure projects and hi-tech industries.
But he also added that he would not limit his focus.
“If elected, I’ll put everything on the table. Reform needs to happen now and with the support of the American people, not the lobbyists.”
Thomas Craft will certainly have to drive up his fundraising if he wants to keep up with the fundraising of John Kline.
http://www.startribune.com/...
Republican U.S. Rep. John Kline reported he had $1.1 million cash on hand to defend his south suburban seat, as a new Democratic challenger stepped forward to make that job more difficult.
Kline, who ruled out a bid for U.S. Senate or governor a few months ago, is one of just a handful of Republicans nationwide in a congressional seat that Democratic President Obama won in 2012. His campaign said he had raised a record $482,000 in the last three months to keep his seat.
However, unseating John Kline in 2014 may not be completely out of the question given the previous 2012 Election results. Obviously Thomas Craft needs to run a very credible, focused campaign.
http://ballotpedia.org/...
Let's help Thomas Craft keep up with the war chest of John Kline, GOTV and other things that will help him in the 2014 race.
Thomas Craft for Congress: http://craftforcongress.com/
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/...
Volunteer: http://craftforcongress.com/...
3:59 PM PT: Just to clarify: Thomas Craft, a Democratic challenger to Rep. John Kline is not the only Democratic challenger in the race. Mike Obermueller, the 2012 Democratic and DFL-endorsed candidate is running again. When I point out to the fundraising totals that John Kline has received, that's what he received regardless of who is challenging him.
Given the campaigns are still in July 2013 and are early by a lot of standards, Thomas Craft will have to compete with the fundraising ability that John Kline has while being able to first challenge Mike Obermueller for the Democratic primary.