DULUTH — Pete Stauber bounced from one thing to the next at his 8th Congressional District campaign headquarters in Hermantown earlier this month. It was the same morning Congressman Rick Nolan announced his retirement to come at the end of his term. The news crashed like a wave on both major political parties. It set some familiar names to envision themselves in the seat. And it sent Stauber into a closed-door sidebar with a GOP strategist in town from Washington, D.C.
Suddenly, wealthy Republican Stewart Mills said he might be in play again after originally deciding to stay out of the 2018 midterm race following a pair of narrow losses to Nolan in previous elections. Mills’ name could be heard coming through the door behind which Stauber had momentarily disappeared.
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