Pete Stauber
Pete Stauber, a Republican former Duluth police lieutenant who has represented Minnesota's 8th congressional district since 2019, faces Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee Trina Swanson, a former U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services official, in 2026.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Pete Stauber.
- Born
- May 10, 1966
- Birthplace
- Duluth, Minnesota
- Education
- Denfeld High School
Lake Superior State University (bachelor's degree in criminology)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Pete Stauber was born on May 10, 1966, in Duluth, Minnesota, and attended Denfeld High School there. His brother Robb played in the National Hockey League.
Stauber played college hockey at Lake Superior State University, where he helped lead the Lakers to the 1988 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey championship, and he graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminology.
After the title the team visited the White House, and Stauber has called his meeting with President Ronald Reagan pivotal in kindling his interest in politics.
Career
After college, Stauber signed a multi-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings in 1990 and played three seasons with the Adirondack Red Wings in the American Hockey League.
The Florida Panthers selected him in the 1993 NHL expansion draft, and because of a longstanding neck injury he retired and joined the Duluth Police Department, where he served as a lieutenant from 1995 to 2017 and was shot while on duty.
He also served eight years on the Hermantown City Council and was a St. Louis County commissioner from 2013 to 2019.
In 2018 Stauber won the open 8th district seat by defeating DFL nominee Joe Radinovich, becoming the second Republican to represent the district since 1947. He was reelected in 2020 against Quinn Nystrom and in 2022 and 2024 against Jennifer Schultz. For the 119th Congress he chairs the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and also serves on the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
2026 race
Minnesota's 8th congressional district is based in the Iron Range and is home to Duluth, and Pete Stauber is its Republican incumbent, re-elected with 58.0% of the vote in 2024. Stauber won the Republican primary with 86.4% of the vote against farmer Anthony Hamilton.
In the general election on November 3, 2026, he faces Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee Trina Swanson, a former Director of International Operations at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Swanson won her primary with 77.2% of the vote, defeating reality television star Luke Gulbranson and John Munter.