DULUTH – U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber easily won his rematch against former state lawmaker Jennifer Schultz in northern Minnesota's Eighth Congressional District.

"We were victorious tonight," he told a rowdy crowd at Black Woods Grill and Bar in Proctor, Minn., after his race was called around 11 p.m.

"I often see your faces when I'm casting that vote," he said, inside the House of Representatives in Washington D.C. "I'm representing you, the 778,000 people in this great district."

He listed his priorities, including a secured southern border and an improved economy and said "we have to take Minnesota back."

The celebratory crowd that gathered to feast, drink and cheer Tuesday night included family, friends and a priest. It grew louder and more excited as the night wore on and Stauber's lead, along with other Republican candidates, increased.

Stauber had stood with his family to address the packed banquet room shortly after polls closed, thanking his wife, children and supporters "for the hard work that got us to this moment again."

In 2018, Stauber flipped the historically blue district in a close race and has won by wide margins since, defeating Schultz in 2022 with 57% of the vote.

A Duluth native, Stauber is a retired police officer and former professional hockey player. He and his wife, Jodi, have six children and live in Hermantown.

Schultz is an economics instructor at the University of Minnesota Duluth who served eight years in the Minnesota Legislature. She lives in Duluth with her husband and two sons.

Stauber campaigned on southern-border security and reducing high costs of living while fighting to expand mining in northeastern Minnesota. He associates Schultz with the Biden-Harris administration, which he says has hurt the American economy and contributed to overseas wars.

Schultz, who has told voters she will fight for access to affordable health care and defend reproductive rights, often attacked Stauber for his votes to keep money out of the Eighth District and his alignment with Donald Trump.

Several voters Tuesday said they opted for Stauber because of his alignment with Trump.

Duluth resident David Byer, 66, voted for Stauber because he expects he will fight to close southern borders.

"If we keep giving money to illegal immigrants, I'm not gonna have Social Security to live," the retired building engineer said.

Maintenance worker and Duluth resident Sean Goossens, 32, said he worries what a Trump presidency and the re-election of Stauber would do to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

"It's a sacred place and (Stauber) wants to sell it off" for mining, Goossens said.

Carol Carrasca said she voted for Jen Schultz because her political ideology is vastly different from Trump's.

"We need people who will stand up to the leaders and say 'No, this is not right,'" said the 81-year-old who retired from Duluth's shipping industry.

Stauber outraised Schultz, reporting $869,000 in cash in mid-October, with Schultz reporting about $323,500. Much of his funding comes from political action committees.

The Eighth District is the largest in the state, covering about a third of it. It includes the Arrowhead and stretches west beyond Bemidji and south to the edge of outer-ring metro suburbs.