Luke Gulbranson has entered the race for Congress in Minnesota’s Eighth District, saying he will challenge Republican Rep. Pete Stauber and, if needed, take the fight to a primary after the DFL endorsement convention in the coming weeks.
Gulbranson, who is from Eveleth, said he is based there but splits his time between Los Angeles and New York. He said his pitch to voters starts with his own background: his family relied on food assistance, Medicaid and Medicare while he was growing up, and that gives him a direct connection to the hardships many people in northern Minnesota still face. “I’m relatable to the people in northern Minnesota. I’m a small-town kid. I know the hardships, I know what they’re going through,” he said.
The race gives Democrats another try in a district that has moved hard to the right in recent years. Stauber, a four-term incumbent from Hermantown, has held the seat since he flipped it in 2018 after Democrat Rick Nolan retired, and he won his last race by more than 16 percentage points. The Eighth District also swung heavily for Donald Trump since 2016, a political headwind any Democrat will have to overcome.
Gulbranson is not just running as a local name. He is also known for appearances on the reality series “Summer House” and “Selling the OC,” and has worked in acting, modeling and luxury real estate. But he said he is a native of Eveleth with deep roots in the region, and that those ties matter more than his television profile. He also owns a maple syrup company that is set to launch in Target in May.
He said Stauber’s support for Trump’s tax and spending package, his opposition in 2021 to former President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and his position on mining near the Boundary Waters are driving his campaign. “I’m very much for... mining resp” Gulbranson said, underscoring that he wants to be seen as supportive of resource development even as he argues the district needs a different voice in Washington.
That is the tension in his campaign: Gulbranson is betting that a candidate with a local story, a business background and a familiar face can break through in a district that has been trending Republican. He said there are already several other Democrats in the race, but insisted the challenge is worth it. “We’re going to put our best foot forward, and we will work our tails off to win the primary, go into the general against Pete Stauber and beat him as well,” he said. The next test comes in just two weeks, when the district’s endorsing convention will show whether party activists are willing to line up behind him.