US Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota joins the race for retiring Sen. Tina Smith's seat

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Rep. Angie Craig on Tuesday became the latest Minnesota Democrat to enter the increasingly competitive race for a U.S. Senate seat currently held by the retiring Sen. Tina Smith.

In her launch video, Craig vows to “break through the chaos” and fight back against “a president trampling our rights and freedoms as he profits for personal gain, and a cowardly Republican Party rolling over and letting it all happen.”

The 53-year-old entered the Senate race after holding town hall meetings last week in all four congressional districts held by Minnesota Republicans, including Majority Whip Tom Emmer, to highlight the differences between Democrats and President Donald Trump and his supporters in Congress.

Smith, a Democrat, announced in February that she would not run again, setting off a scramble in her party for what will be an open seat that could help determine which party controls the Senate after 2026.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan was first out of the gate and has been actively campaigning across the state. She has already piled up a long list of endorsements, including from Attorney General Keith Ellison, former U.S. Sen. Al Franken and several legislators. She raised over $450,000 in the first quarter.

Former state Sen Melisa López Franzen joined the race in March and is also making appearances statewide. López Franzen has endorsements from several current and former legislators and local officials. She raised more than $260,000 in her first three weeks.

But Craig is in the strongest financial position. Her House campaign raised over $1.2 million in the first quarter, and she can now spend that on the Senate race.

Craig is a former medical device company executive and former newspaper reporter. Craig and her wife, Cheryl, have four adult sons. Craig was targeted with death threats and forced to move after fighting off a mentally disturbed attacker in the elevator of her Washington apartment building in 2023.

She has represented the suburban-to-rural 2nd District south of Minneapolis and St. Paul since unseating Republican Jason Lewis in the 2018 election. While her territory was once considered a swing district, it has trended Democratic in recent years. Running as a centrist, she won reelection by a 13-point margin in 2024. But that district could conceivably become competitive again with her out.

Republicans actively raising money in the Senate race include antiestablishment grassroots candidate Royce White, a former NBA player who lost to U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2024, and former congressional candidate Adam Schwarze, a veteran of the Marine Corps and the Iraq War.