Along with the Governor, U.S. Senate, and other statewide races in Minnesota, Republican voters in 6 of 8 U.S. Congressional districts will see a contested primary for the Congress seat. Only CD2 and CD7 do not have GOP primary elections this cycle. Below, you will see a breakdown of the six contested GOP Congressional primaries.

Congress District 1

Incumbent RINO Brad Finstad is facing two GOP opponents. Finstad was first elected in 2022 following Rep. Jim Hagedorn passing. Since getting in office, Finstad has aligned himself with the RINO Establishment and has voted to grow government. Despite having the best voting record of Minnesota’s GOP delegation, Finstad has failed to deliver an America First liberty agenda. Finstad’s opponents include small business owner Oliver Morlan and an individual named Greg Goetzman. Morlan filed for office alongside GOP primary opponents to RINOs Tom Emmer and Pete Stauber unified behind an anti-corruption agenda. Goetzman is running on a platform about nuclear disarmament and investing in green energy. Morlan's platform includes an America First foreign policy, end lobbying, releasing the full Epstein files, and other issues. Votes for Morlan and Goetzman will largely be protest votes due to the massive financial and name ID advantage that Finstad has over them.

Congress District 3

The race to defeat radical leftist Kelly Morrison features two GOP candidates: Quentin Wittrock and Tyler Bass. Wittrock is the party’s endorsed candidate despite publicly saying he has never voted for Trump. Tyler Bass has positioned himself as the conservative alternative, even saying that Wittrock admitted to him that he voted for Hillary in 2016, Biden in 2020, and Kamala in 2024. Wittrock’s campaign website offers vanilla and vague propositions while Bass’ website compares his views on top issues with Wittrock. Quentin Wittrock holds a significant financial advantage in the race.

Congress District 4

The CD4 GOP race features three candidates to take on radical leftist career politician Betty McCollum. This race features two candidates who competed for the party endorsement, Paul Wikstrom and Paul Xiong, with Wikstrom ultimately winning the endorsement. As discussed in part on Xiong's website, he grew up in the Communist country of Laos, where his father fought alongside Americans as a leader in the military, and became an orphan after both parents died following the Secret War. Xiong discusses some of his life story and anti-Communist beliefs in a campaign video. Xiong was a former law enforcement officer and the former leader of the Hmong 18 Council, which encapsulates the 18 different Hmong clans (families) in Minnesota and has broad support from various groups. Wikstrom was the GOP nominee in a State House campaign that became vacant after the court ruled the Democrat who won was not eligible. After the court ruling, a special election was called and Wikstrom was defeated by radical leftist David Gottfied. Wikstrom has centered his Congress campaign around the fraud issue. In an email to CD4 Republicans, Wikstrom expressed doubts about continuing his campaign due to low volunteer participation and low funds. Xiong has raised $60,577 to Wikstrom’s $28,031. There is also a perennial candidate named Gene Rechtzigel running in the GOP primary.  

Congress District 5

The race to take on radical socialist Ilhan Omar features four Republicans. Two of the candidates sought the party endorsement, former police officer John Nagel and anti-Trump Muslim Dalia Al-Aqidi, which resulted in Dalia winning the endorsement. Al-Aqidi was the GOP nominee in 2024 and received less than 25% of the vote in the general election. Al-Aqidi egotistically portrays herself as a superhero and previously made the ridiculous claim that Trump would not win the 2024 Presidential primary or general elections. John Nagel has positioned himself as a more traditional Republican. Another candidate named Angie Windhauser has a campaign website that shows her campaign slogan is “Make Minnesota For Jesus Again”. A fourth candidate, Abbey Zieska, has very limited info available on her campaign but there is a statement from her discussing fraud. Al-Aqidi has raised $1,128,978 to Nagel’s $747,046, though both have spent almost all of their funds.

Congress District 6

Globalist RINO and Somalia First Tom Emmer has two opponents in the GOP primary including America First conservative Chris Corey and Marine Corps veteran Mike Foley. Chris Corey ran against Emmer in 2024 but Emmer’s puppets rigged the convention so Chris could not speak or run. Chris ran in the 2024 primary and received about 13% of the vote. Chris Corey has told A4L that he would fight to shrink government, reduce the national debt, stand with law enforcement, and oppose more Somali refugees that Emmer helped bring in. Unlike Corey, Mike Foley has attacked Emmer from the left on the Somali fraud issue as he was critical of Emmer for turning his back on them. Foley also has been critical of ICE and called it federal overreach, which puts him in a minority among GOP primary voters. Foley has stated that he is running in part because Emmer has refused to respond to his inquiries on a Congressman that was accused of stolen valor. Foley previously confronted Tom Emmer on the issue and Emmer ran away. Foley was allowed to compete at the 2026 CD6 convention against Emmer but was unsuccessful, likely due to some of his liberal positions. As the GOP Whip, Emmer is able to have an insane financial advantage having raised nearly $10 Million. Both Corey and Foley have said they would release the Epstein files while Emmer had a pivotal role in the coverup of Epstein co-conspirators.

Congress District 8

RINO Pete Stauber has a primary challenge from homesteader and hobby farmer Anthony Hamilton. Hamilton filed for office alongside GOP primary candidates in CD1 and CD6 on an anti-corruption platform. Hamilton is campaigning on issues like term limits, ending lobbying, and banning Congressional stock trading. Stauber has raised nearly $2 Million for his campaign which gives him a major financial advantage over a regular, grassroots candidate.

Democrats

There will also be 6 U.S. Congress primaries on the Democrat side in Minnesota. This includes primaries against Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum. Ilhan faces MN Democrat’s DNC Committeewoman Latonay Reeves, former DHS lawyer Julie Trang Le, nurse Abena McKenzie, and an individual named Nate Schluter. McCollum faces a leftist filmmaker named Aswar Rahman. CD3 and CD6 do not feature Democrat primaries.

Conclusion