2018 call and doing washington journal at 7 a.m. eastern on c-span. with the midterm elections just days away, which the competition for the control of congress on the span. see for yourself the candidates and the debate from the south best from key house and senate -- from key house and senate races. this week and for the next four days on the washington journal, we will be talking about some of the key battlegrounds for control of the house and campaign 2018. we are focusing today starting in the land of 10,000 lakes in the state of minnesota. . to help us get the lay of the land, we are joined by minnesota public radio briana bierschbach. thanks for being here. can you start by talking about the money pouring into minnesota

by this campaign, spending both candidates and outside groups reaching historic levels? guest: it has been really striking. with the last round of campaign-finance reports, we were adding them up in our newsroom, and it is approaching $30 million to $40 million from outside groups. competitive house seats is pretty striking. when you add on top of that what the candidates themselves are spending, they are keeping pace with the outside groups. it is nearing a total of $70 million with candidate spending and outside spending. usually, outside groups are spending more than the candidates, but you are noticing the candidates are able to raise a bit more money this cycle, especially the democratic candidates. they are able to raise more money from groups and people outside of the state itself. so they are able to keep pace. but when you look at $70 million for four seats in a state like

minnesota, which does not really see spending like this, it is really striking. people are seeing it on their tv's. it is nonstop ads. you cannot have a commercial break without will or five political ads. host: and associated press reporter puts it in respective. this is just the outside spending on house districts, the top five states -- california, texas, states with a lot of congressional districts, and minnesota comes in at three, with just eight congressional district's. after that, pennsylvania and new york. as you pointed out, four competitive house races and minnesota. let's start with them, starting in the eighth district. it has gotten particular personal in recent days, especially with recent ads. what is going on there? guest: the 8th is a republican see their best chance to flip a district. representative rick nolan is

retiring after several terms, leaving the seat wide open. the district went 15 points for trump in the last election, which it had always gone for democratic presidential candidates before that. so republicans see a real opportunity. they are excited about their candidate, pete stauber, a former police officer in duluth and a local county commissioner and veteran. democrats have yielded a guy named joe radinovich -- democrats have fielded a guy named joe radinovich. republicans are acting joe radinovich for past parking violations between now and 2004 -- about 30 parking violations, including driving with a suspended license. and they have hit him -- it was pleaded out, but a drug paraphernalia charge when he was a young kid. he has responded by putting on his own digital ads, basically telling his own personal story.

he has gone through a lot of tragedy. he came home from track practice one day, and a family member had attempted suicide, and he found that family member there. less than a year later, another family member killed his mother and himself in a murder-suicide. a really horrible story. he is talking about it, looking straight in the camera, in an ad. make himis struggles more human, more real. that is a strategy i've seen in number of races. candidates who cannot afford a response ad on the air are going digital typically with the voters. but thisbut this is approaching0 million we know of that has been spent in this district, a lot of it by republicans. they are really excited about their chances. host: from that large district in the northeastern part of the state to the suburbs of minneapolis. let's focus on two congressional republicans who are trying to keep their seats in the house.

can you start with erik paulsen's race? guest: this one is the most watched race in our state it more than 50 million -- $15 million spent in this race. it is a suburban district of the twin cities. it has the lowest unemployment of any district in the nation. people are very comfortable in this district. erik paulsen has been there for a number of terms. he has survived some tough races. i think this is his toughest one yet. dean phillips is a democrat who is wealthy, basically the heir of a local liquor company. he is really hitting a number of issues, taking money from pharmaceutical companies. and tying into the president is his main agenda. because the district voted for clinton.

trump is not popular in the district. recently, the president, surprisingly, endorsed erik paulsen in the race over twitter. that was immediately jumped on by his opponents, saying they are one and the same, and voters should see that as well. this is one where democrats see their best chances to flip a seat. host: would you say erik paulsen has a tougher race on congressman jason lewis in the second district? guest: it is hard to say. is doingyork times" live polling. both have shown them down. if you look at the ads being run by the erik paulsen team, it would suggest he is in a tougher fight. he has gone very negative in the last experience a couple of attack ads that have been controversial locally, because they involve local health boards, which say the ad is wrong. it has really been an onslaught of negative attacks. it would suggest he is very

concerned about his position in their own internal polling. close asewis race is well. angie craig is ahead by 10 points. a snapshot in time, like any bull. but this is a rematch from two years ago. angie craig has changed her tone a little bit. she is a democrat, a businesswoman, a gay woman, talking about all of those pieces of her biography where she did not really talk about it for the last race. but she was a former -- he was a former talk radio host, and some of the sound clips are resurfacing. host: we do not want to forget about the first district. can you touch on the latest there? guest: that is an open seat here the candidate there is running for governor, tim walz. dan feehan, a democrat and former pentagon official,

running against republican jim hagedorn, who has run several times in the district. that is also getting nearly $10 million in funding. a recent poll showed the democrat ahead in what is traditionally a conservative district. i think republicans are very worried in that district. host: briana bierschbach covers it all, reporter for minnesota public radio. nprnews >> this is npr news. until election day and people in minnesota's eighth congressional district have a big decision to make. the seat in congress is open after rick nolan announced his retirement, so now voters have to choose who will represent them for the next two years. the district covers northeastern minnesota and includes a duluth, brainerd, grand rapids and stretches