House Agriculture Committee ranking member Angie Craig, with one eye on a Senate run in 2026, faces a daunting task in delivering legislative benefits to her constituents in the next two years.
Craig, D-Minn., became the panel’s top Democrat just as the majority Republicans began looking at steep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as part of the budget reconciliation process. Those cuts, in turn, would make drafting a bipartisan farm bill a much bigger lift for the committee.
Both issues fall squarely into House Agriculture’s jurisdiction. And cuts to food stamps and the absence of a farm bill would give Democrats little to take to voters in the fall of 2026. For Craig, the disappointment would come after she persuaded colleagues that it was time for a younger lawmaker to lead panel Democrats. And do little to raise her profile back home.
A 2023 MinnPost/Embold Research poll found that 23 percent of possible 2024 Minnesota voters never heard of Craig. The poll found 20 percent viewed her very unfavorably compared to 13 percent who viewed her very favorably.
Craig said on social media last week that she was “giving serious consideration” to the seat that’s opening with the retirement of Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat. “I’ll be talking to Minnesotans in the weeks ahead about the best way to continue to serve my community and will make a decision in the near term,” she said on X.
Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party also illustrates, at least by name, the coalition-building Democrats are likely to want nationwide to prevail in 2024. The Democrats chose Ken Martin, the head of the DFL, as chair of the Democratic National Committee in early February.
Craig became House Agriculture’s ranking member early this year by turfing out Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., and beating Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif. Both Scott and Costa have been in Congress for more than two decades. Craig won her seat representing Minnesota’s 2nd District in 2018.
Her rise to the ranking member signaled Democrats’ desire to usher in younger voices that could effectively respond to, and resist, the Trump administration’s agriculture policies.
Craig has responded to several Trump actions, pushing Agriculture Department officials to answer questions about the disruption of international food aid through the U.S. Agency for International Development and the freezing of Agriculture Department funds. She warned about possible cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
“No one wins in a trade war,” Craig said in a statement.
The Trump administration’s rapid and frequent use of executive actions with little congressional input is leaving Democrats scrambling to find information and put up obstacles where possible. Congressional Republicans have thus far mostly supported the administration, offering criticism primarily when the action hurts voters in their district.
“I was home in Minnesota last week, and I was able to start those conversations, but look, we’ve got our hands full in Washington for the next couple of weeks,” Craig said Monday. “I want to take some time to really talk to stakeholders back in Minnesota.”
Among Democrats and left-leaning independents, The Economist/YouGov found in a February poll that 65 percent of respondents think Democrats in Congress aren’t doing enough to resist Trump’s actions and 22 percent think that Democrats are resisting the right amount.
Benjamin Toff, an associate professor at University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication and director of the Minnesota Journalism Center, said the outcome of the Democratic primary may not depend on Craig’s positioning on agriculture and nutrition.
He said there’s lots of disagreement about how to respond to the Trump administration.
“And I think there’ll be a microcosm of that in Minnesota, where it’s, you know, a lot of disagreement about what the future of the party ought to be and how to respond to the Trump administration and the actions they’ve taken at federal level,” Toff said.
Craig won her 2024 reelection bid with about 56 percent of the vote. Her 2nd District in southern Minnesota includes farm communities on the southern side and Twin Cities suburbs in the north.
“She’s going to have much more visibility with rural communities and farming communities statewide than your average, you know, other figure in Washington,” Toff said.
But issues like health care, child care and transportation may be of greater import to residents in the Twin Cities, Toff said. “People want to know that she understands and will champion in a way that, being based where she is, has been less of her focus.”
Her DFL rivals for the Senate seat could include Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who posted on X on Feb. 13 that her “intention is to run for U.S. Senate.” And Rep. Ilhan Omar’s office confirmed an Axios report that she’s considering a bid.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was Kamala Harris’s running mate in 2024 and is a former House member, ruled himself out on Wednesday morning. Craig had indicated that she wouldn’t make a decision until Walz had.
As House Agriculture ranking member, Craig has sought to distinguish herself from the panel’s previous Democratic leadership.
“We’ve been incredibly active, engaging our members on what they want to see. Meeting one-on-one with every single member of the ag committee right now, just trying to get them all in
Craig said that she has been working with House Agriculture Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., and it’s “off to a great start from a relationship perspective.”
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