Chip Cravaack

In March 2012 Cravaack introduced a bill in Congress that would have allowed mining and logging in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Superior National Forest through a land exchange that would rely on the state environmental review process and bypass federal environmental reviews, with proceeds going to the school districts.

In the 2012 election Cravaack was endorsed by the Mesabi Daily News in Virginia and the Duluth News Tribune. On November 6, he lost by 9 points to the Democratic nominee, former Congressman Rick Nolan.

In March 2011, Cravaack came under criticism by Duluth students and community leaders for voting for a budget bill that made cuts to the federal Pell Grant program that provides financial aid to college students, including 30 percent of the students at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He also received attention for implying during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing that Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was furthering the goals of a terrorist organization.

Following his election in November 2010, Cravaack backed fellow Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann for the number four GOP leadership position of House Republican Conference chair.

Following graduation, Cravaack served in the Navy as a helicopter pilot, fulfilling an early ambition. While in the Navy, he earned a master's degree in education from the University of West Florida to prepare for his post-military career. After his discharge from active duty, he served in the Naval Reserve, primarily with aircraft carrier crew augmentation unit, doing administrative work in support, and retiring in 2009 with the rank of Captain.

Cravaack was inspired to run for Congress by a suggestion from a talk radio show host that voters demand town hall meetings with their congressmen during the health care bill Tea Party movement protests of August 2009. Cravaack went with 25 people to one of Oberstar's Minnesota offices asking for a meeting that day and when Oberstar did not come, Cravaack decided to challenge him in the November 2010 election.

He and his family settled in Lindstrom, northeast of Minneapolis. He retired from Northwest in 2007 due to sleep apnea, receiving a $79,000 per year as medical disability pension, and becoming a stay-at-home dad for a time. In addition, Cravaack has said he drew unemployment benefits during a furlough from Northwest in the early 1990s.

The crowd jeered Oberstar at a candidate debate held in Duluth, and he called for a more civil atmosphere at the next debate. The second debate centered on economic issues. Cravaack argued that the 2003 Bush tax cuts should be continued in all tax brackets to stimulate employment, and Oberstar said he would end the tax cut for the top two percent of earners because the lowered tax had caused part of the deficit.

He was a union steward for the Airline Pilots Association. He served as a "strike coordinator" during the 1998 pilots' strike, bringing military discipline and parade-ground style marching to the picket lines.

Cravaack moved to Minnesota and began working as a pilot for Northwest Airlines in 1990. He was out of work for two years in the early 1990s due to layoffs, during which time he became a simulator instructor for a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines teaching foreign pilots.

Raymond John "Chip" Cravaack (born January 29, 1959) is an American politician who was the U.S. Representative for northeastern Minnesota's 8th congressional district from 2011 to 2013. In his first run for political office, he upset 18-term Democratic incumbent Jim Oberstar by a margin of 4,400 votes to become the first Republican since 1947 to represent the district. Previously, Cravaack was a pilot for Northwest Airlines, and before that he was a Navy pilot, and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He was defeated by DFL candidate Rick Nolan on November 6, 2012.

Cravaack was born in Charleston, West Virginia on January 29, 1959. His ancestry includes German, Italian, and Romanian-German. He grew up in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, the eldest of three children in a Republican family that had a military background; his father, Ray, served in the Korean War, and his grandfather served in World War I. Cravaack graduated from St. Xavier High School in 1977. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1981 with a bachelor of science degree.

Cravaack entered the race as a political novice and an underdog. The 8th had been in Democratic hands since 1947, and Oberstar was the longest-serving Congressman in Minnesota's history, usually cruising to reelection. Geography also seemed to be against Cravaack; his home in Lindstrom was in Chisago County, in the southern portion of the district. His campaign manager was future Minnesota House of Representatives member Anne Neu.