Tom Weiler was endorsed Saturday, April 23, by the Republican Party’s Third Congressional District delegates to take on U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips in the Nov. 2 election.
The U.S. Navy submarine veteran is a 1996 Eden Prairie High School graduate. He lives in Plymouth with his wife Cynthia and two children.
Weiler, born in Corpus Christi, Texas, but raised in Eden Prairie, graduated in 2000 from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor’s of science degree in civil engineering and was commissioned into the Navy in 2001. He served as a submarine officer for more than 20 years, retiring from the Navy after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
“I am overwhelmed with the support our campaign saw today to endorse my candidacy to take on Congressman Dean Phillips this November,” Weiler said in a news release announcing the endorsement. “We have built a team ready to win in Minnesota. We have earned the support of delegates, donors, and voters throughout the district. We have generated the energy and excitement from both Republicans and Independents needed to beat Congressman Dean Phillips.”
Weiler said it’s time to band together as Republicans and take back a congressional seat that should be represented by a “true conservative and not a liberal progressive like Phillips.”
“This district is full of everyday Minnesotans who care about being able to afford to put food on the table, gas in their cars, their children’s education, and having a safe neighborhood to raise their children,” Weiler said.
Ken Martin, Minnesota DFL chairman, issued a statement after Weiler’s endorsement. He said if Minnesota Republicans think voters in the district will support Weiler, who he described as an “anti-vaccine, anti-science, pro-Trump Republican,” then “they are in for a rude awakening this November.”
Martin added that Phillips has represented Minnesotans in Congress with “courage, compassion, and a moral clarity that Washington, D.C., desperately needs. Dean has shown a relentless focus on lowering costs for families, fighting crime and moving us well past COVID so we all can thrive post-pandemic. Dean has earned the trust and support of his constituents and I am confident that he will be re-elected.”
All of Eden Prairie is represented by the Third Congressional District.