PRIOR LAKE, MINNESOTA — Republican state Sen. Eric Pratt is trying to flip Minnesota’s open 2nd Congressional District by presenting himself as a moderate alternative to Democrat Matt Little, a former state senator who won the August primary after calling for a full U.S. arms embargo on Israel.
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Pratt, who represents the Prior Lake area in the Minnesota Senate and ran unopposed in the Republican primary, told Jewish Insider this week that he hopes he is “boring enough to win.”
“Somebody was just telling me, I might be boring enough to win this seat. And I think they’re kind of right in that,” Pratt said.
The south-metro district, which stretches from suburbs of the Twin Cities into farm country, is the only open House seat in Minnesota this year. Rep. Angie Craig, a Democrat who flipped the district in 2018, is not seeking reelection after an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nomination for U.S. Senate.
The Cook Political Report rates the district as “likely Democrat.” Pratt argued the race looks different without Craig on the ballot.
“My opponent is not an Angie Craig Democrat,” Pratt said. “He’s been endorsed by Bernie Sanders, Keith Ellison, he runs in circles with Ilhan Omar and Peggy Flanagan. He’s on the extreme side of his party and that’s not what the 2nd District is.”
Little, a former Lakeville mayor and state senator, defeated state Sen. Matt Klein and state Rep. Kaela Berg in the Aug. 11 Democratic primary. He centered his campaign on Medicare for All, limits on corporate money in politics and an end to U.S. military assistance to Israel.
Little has called Israel’s war in Gaza “genocidal” and said the United States should halt military aid and impose an embargo on all weapons sales to Israel. During the primary he also criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which backed spending against him.
Pratt said Little’s approach amounts to isolationism rather than alliance-building.
“Having a Democratic society, an ally in the Middle East, helps the United States be safe. And we have to foster that alliance,” Pratt said. “Allies can be critical of each other and they can question each other, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to be friends marching in the same direction. … We can’t demonize our friends, we’ve got to support them.”
Pratt said he is open to a two-state solution if Israel has a role in the negotiations, its sovereignty remains intact and terrorist groups do not control a Palestinian government. He called Iran’s nuclear program a “clear and present danger” to the United States and said Washington must prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon while keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.
On antisemitism, Pratt said attacks on Jewish institutions and harassment of Jewish students on campus should not be tolerated. He said schools and other institutions that allow discrimination should lose federal funding and that Congress should oppose Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaigns targeting Israel.
Pratt, 62, has lived in Prior Lake since the 1970s. He served on the Prior Lake-Savage School Board before winning a Senate seat in 2012. He has a background in banking and business and said every bill he has passed in the Senate has been bipartisan.
He is campaigning on the cost of living, federal spending, economic growth and deregulation.
“These are suburban families. They want great opportunities for their kids. They want good education. They want to make sure that they have jobs that they can support their families in and get ahead,” Pratt said. He added that he is “really more focused on trying to help my neighbors than play politics.”
Little and Pratt will meet in the general election Nov. 3.
The focus on local issues like cost of living and education often resonates with voters. It’s a pragmatic approach to campaigning. Candidates who prioritize community concerns over national political theater frequently connect with a broader base.