DFL state Rep. Heather Keeler runs for GOP-held congressional seat in western Minnesota
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DFL state Rep. Heather Keeler will run for Congress in a challenge to Republican U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach in a district representing a wide swath of western Minnesota.
Keeler, 43, lives in Moorhead and announced on social media that she is running for the 7th Congressional District seat. First elected to the state House of Representatives in 2020, Keeler co-chairs the Human Services Finance and Policy Committee.
The former educator and advocate touted policies she helped advance at the Capitol, including efforts to address homelessness, expand access to nutrition assistance and mental health services and improve student attendance. She is an enrolled member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe.
Keeler said she decided to run after meeting with members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation in Washington, D.C. at the beginning of the federal government shutdown.
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“It just felt like all these things started building, and it just fell on my heart to try to step up and be a voice that really genuinely leads with love,” Keeler told MPR News.
“People always expect somebody else to go running into the fire. And I just felt like both professionally, personally and politically, I am a strong candidate to run,” she continued. “I have a background in bipartisan work, so it proves that I can listen to all of my constituents and find the slivers of commonality to actually find good change that you know will last the test of time.”
Keeler isn’t the only Democratic candidate. Marketing business owner Erik Osberg and educator Jared Adams are also running for the party nomination.
Fischbach has run up big numbers in the district that stretches from the Canadian border almost to Iowa. It’s the largest district by area in Minnesota and includes cities like Willmar, Alexandria and Marshall.
Fischbach defeated longtime Democratic Rep. Colin Peterson in 2020.
Keeler said she’s confident she can winner over voters of all different political stripes. And she’s heard from people in the region that they’re interested in change.
“People really just want to be heard. Real lives are being impacted, and they just, they just want their voices to be heard,” Keeler said. “They want their stories to be seen, and they want real changes.”
