The first potential challenger to U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber has confirmed her candidacy.

Theresa Lastovich's campaign said Thursday, Dec. 30 that she will hold two events on Friday, Jan. 7, to declare her intention to run. The events will happen at 9 a.m. at the Iron Man Memorial in Chisholm and at 5 p.m. at Wild State Cider in Duluth.

"I am choosing to run because people need lasting opportunities in our district, and someone needs to fight for them," Lastovich said in a news release.

Lastovich said the 8th District's top three needs are education, infrastructure, and healthcare. If elected, she pledged to put aside differences to work on the issues.

Lastovich's interest in the seat first became known when her campaign registered with Federal Elections Commission earlier this year. Stauber himself has not announced his intentions for the 2022 election but has registered his campaign with the FEC.

The 8th District includes all of northeastern Minnesota, stretching to east-central Minnesota and the Brainerd Lakes area. It has flipped between parties several times in just over a decade.

Stauber was elected to the seat with 50.7% of the vote in 2018 and re-elected in 2020 with 56.7% of the vote.

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