Pete Stauber
RIncumbentFEC H8MN08043
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Raised this cycle$2.6M
Cash on hand: $1.1M
2026 race
MN-08 — U.S. House
2 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Pete Stauber.
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How we got here · 2 earlier contests
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Minnesota Secretary of State.
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$3.5M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent
Currently in office
Challengers
Sorted by fundraising
Trina Swanson
DChallengerFEC H6MN08179
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Raised this cycle$727K
Cash on hand: $177K
4 defeated candidates — show
Luke Gulbranson
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6MN08195
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Raised this cycle$219K
Cash on hand: $523
Chad McKenna
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6MN08161
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Raised this cycle$28K
Cash on hand: $400
Emanuel Anastos
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6MN08120
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Raised this cycle$6K
Cash on hand: $47
Anthony David Hamilton
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6MN08203
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Raised this cycle—
Cash on hand: —
Local signal
Early read on MN-08 — U.S. House
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Pete Stauberleans negative
0 pos5 neutral2 neg7 articles
Trina Swansonlimited coverage
No coverage in our tracked outlets in the last 90 days.
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle
Total disclosed
$3.5M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$3.5M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$841
$286 for · $555 against
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pete Stauber(R)incumbent + MINNESOTA CITIZENS CONCERNED FOR LIFE, INC. FEDERAL PAC $286 − MINNESOTA DEMOCRATIC-FARMER-LABOR PARTY $555 | $2.6M | $286 | $555 | $2.6M |
Trina Swanson(D) | $727K | — | — | $727K |
4 defeated candidates — show finances
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Luke Gulbranson(D)defeated | $219K | — | — | $219K |
Chad McKenna(D)defeated | $28K | — | — | $28K |
Emanuel Anastos(D)defeated | $6K | — | — | $6K |
Anthony David Hamilton(R)defeated | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside MN versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Pete Stauber(R)63% in-state · $907K itemized
$570K in-state$337K out-of-state
Trina Swanson(D)80% in-state · $186K itemized
$149K in-state$37K out-of-state
3 defeated candidates — show
Luke Gulbranson(D)defeated20% in-state · $53K itemized
$11K in-state$42K out-of-state
Chad McKenna(D)defeated97% in-state · $18K itemized
$17K in-state$500 out-of-state
Emanuel Anastos(D)defeated0% in-state · $3K itemized
$0 in-state$3K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.