Lastovich drops out of 8th Congressional District race

DULUTH — Theresa Lastovich plans to leave the race for Minnesota's 8th Congressional District.

The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party candidate from Chisholm is working on the withdrawal process, Lastovich said in an email to the News Tribune on Friday. She was the first candidate to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, a Republican from Hermantown, in the 2022 election cycle.

"When I entered the race, the redistricting maps were not out and I couldn’t let Stauber go without someone challenging his seat," Lastovich said. "Now that Reed Olson is included in D8, he is better poised and funded to go further."

Reed Olson, a DFLer from Bemidji, had been running as a candidate for the 7th Congressional District until Tuesday, when redrawn district boundaries put him in the 8th District. He has suspended his campaign as he considers whether he wants to run in the 8th District, the News Tribune reported Thursday.

The only DFL candidate still in the race is Ernest Joseph Oppegaard-Peltier III, of Bemidji, who was also running for the 7th District seat until the maps changed.

This story was updated at 4:23 p.m. Feb. 18 to correct the spelling of Reed Olson's name in the first reference. It was originally posted at 10:46 a.m. Feb. 18. The News Tribune regrets the error.