U.S. Rep. Angie Craig filed a lawsuit Monday to block the delay of the Second Congressional District election, which state election officials pushed to February after the death of a third-party marijuana legalization candidate.
Craig, a Democratic freshman incumbent, is competing with Republican Tyler Kistner for the seat that includes suburbs in the south metro and a wide swath of southern Minnesota. Legal Marijuana Now candidate Adam Charles Weeks died last week.
Kistner’s campaign said it opposes the suit.
Under state law, the death of a major-party candidate less than 79 days before an election requires a postponement and special election. The Legal Marijuana Now Party narrowly qualified as a major party in Minnesota based on past election results.
Craig filed the suit in federal court along with Apple Valley resident Jenny Winslow Davies, arguing that their goal is to ensure the district is not left without a representative between the end of her term in January and the February special election.
The suit contends that the postponement would violate federal law and result in “direct, concrete, and irreparable injury” to Minnesota voters.