Pete Stauber
In a last-ditch effort to seek voters’ support, 8th District Congressman Pete Stauber barnstormed across Northeast Minnesota last Thursday, making a stop in Grand Marais at the Rec Park Pavilion early in the afternoon.
Stauber called his campaign a “Five Day Power Play”, which may or may not have had anything to do with his career as a professional hockey player, but anything to do with a power play has to excite hockey fans.
On Thursday, October 29, Pete held rallies in Hermantown, Two Harbors, Grand Marais, and Ely.
Cook County COVID- 19 guidelines were followed for the event; participants wore masks and practiced social distancing. Meanwhile up the street on Highway 61, a group of Biden/Harris supporters waved signs at the Stauber people as they drove into the rec park.
Saying he was a strong proponent of logging and tourism, Stauber also talked about bringing manufacturing back to the 8th District. Those jobs need skilled labor and pay good wages, he said.
As for Cook County or Northeastern Minnesota being called “fly-over” areas, Stauber said the 8th District was anything but “fly-over,” because it was filled with hard working, smart, industrious people, even if it was termed that way by pundits on either coast.
As a former police officer, Pete said he backed law enforcement, although he added, “No one hates a bad cop more than a good cop.”
Pointing to his wife, Pete said he backed our military, adding Jodi had served 24 years in the military, and was a veteran of the Iraq War. Jodi Stauber was the first female Command in Chief of the 148th Fighter Wing’s unit.
As a small business owner, the congressman said he could empathize with the tough times business owners are going through. He and his brothers co-own a hockey themed sporting goods business in Hermantown and in 31 years of doing business, this year has been by far the hardest, he said.
Much of that, he attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. But on that note, Pete implored his listeners that the country would get through the pandemic. “As a nation, we have learned so much about this virus in such a short period of time,” he said, imploring people to listen to doctors and science as therapeutics and vaccination are sought.
On the topic of therapeutics, and medicines vital to the U.S., Stauber said it was time to have those made here and not in China, and he was working to get medical manufacturing back to the states.
When asked about when the Canadian border would open, Pete was chagrin as he stated that it was Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada blocking talks to open the border. “Both countries,” he said, “Need the border open. It’s really hurting the economies of both countries by keeping it closed.”
Last July, Stauber (R-MN-8), Tom Emmer (R-MN-6) and Collin Peterson (D-MN-7) asked Department of Homeland Acting Secretary Chad Wolf and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair to consider creating a comprehensive plan to begin a phased reopening of the border, which has been closed since March. Unfortunately, Canada didn’t budge on the proposal.
Currently, anyone arriving in Canada from the United States must self-isolate for 14 days.
Speaking quickly as time was running out, Stauber asked folks to vote, telling them that each vote mattered, that they mattered, and he was glad to represent the 8th District.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune Editorial Board endorsed Stauber, noting that Pete “impressed the board as a quick study who wouldn’t hesitate to work with Democrats on common ground issues faced by residents of Minnesota’s sprawling Eighth Congressional District.”
He came across that way to listeners on Thursday.
Leave a Reply