Republican Pete Stauber projected to flip Minnesota House district: NBC News

• Republicans will flip this northern Minnesota 8th District with a win by St. Louis County Commissioner Pete Stauber
• Stauber defeated former state Rep. Joe Radinovich, who had once worked for the incumbent Democrat, Rep. Rick Nolan.

Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call Group | Getty Images

Pete Stauber, Republican candidate for Minnesota's 8th Congressional District, talks with guests during a meet and greet with local GOP politicians in Park Rapids, Minn., on September 18, 2018. 

Republicans will flip this northern Minnesota 8th District with a win by St. Louis County Commissioner Pete Stauber, according to NBC News projections.

Stauber, a onetime cop whose campaign ads noted that he once played for the Detroit Red Wings, defeated former state Rep. Joe Radinovich, who had once worked for the incumbent Democrat, Rep. Rick Nolan.

NBC News has projected that the Democrats will win the House.

The race opened up with Nolan announced in February that he was resigning after his latest three terms in office. He had previously represented Minnesota's 6th District from 1975 to 1981.

This battleground race attracted heavy outside spending from political action committees and other groups that can spend without limits as long as they don't coordinate with an individual candidate. Some $8 million flowed into the race, much of it spent on ads attacking Radinovich.

This suburban St. Paul district is wealthier and better educated that the median congressional district. Though the district voted for President Donald Trump by more than 5 percentage points in 2016, Barack Obama won the district by roughly the same amount in 2012 and 2008.