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Summer House alum Luke Gulbranson is entering a new — and far more political — chapter.
The former reality star, 42, announced on Wednesday, April 15, that he is launching a bid for Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, which is currently held by Republican Representative Pete Stauber.
“The rink is where I escaped when life at home was tough. Things just made more sense here. I didn’t grow up with much. I know what it’s like to get the power turned off a few times, to need food assistance or go hungry, to need Medicaid or couldn’t see a doctor,” Gulbranson said in an Instagram video on Wednesday announcing his campaign. “But I had hockey. I had the woods.”
He noted that he had people who “taught [him] how to keep going” who are “getting by because of great union jobs.” adding that life “has a funny way of closing one door and opening another.”
“I’m Luke Gulbranson. Hockey coach, businessman and actor. Yeah, I’ve been on reality TV. But that’s drama for show. What’s happening in D.C. is real drama with real consequences and the stakes couldn’t be higher,” he said, referring to his stint on Summer House from 2020 to 2022 and an appearance on the second season of Winter House.
“I wake up every morning and there’s this dangerous rhetoric and this madness coming out of D.C., and I can’t stand it,” he continued. “ICE agents wreaking havoc to our communities, Congress voting to take away people’s healthcare, spending $200 billion on a war when we need to be spending that money at home, taking care of our own people.”
Gulbranson noted that he sees “what’s happening to our country and I care way too much to look away.” He added that he wants to “fix problems, not cause them,” while also protecting land and “good-paying union jobs.”
“Let’s see what happens when we stop watching the chaos and start fixing it. Start bringing people together with representation that has integrity,” he explained. “Minnesota has already shown what it looks like to stick together through tough times. Let’s bring that spirit to the U.S. Congress.”
Gulbranson also reshared the video via his Instagram Story, writing, “Join me in my race for Congress today!”
“Costs are up — we feel it at the pump and the checkout line,” he wrote in the caption. “Health care is under attack, forcing families to choose between paying bills and affording prescriptions. Unions are being targeted, like in St. Louis County where this administration is threatening to cut funding if we ensure fair wages for union workers. And in northern Minnesota, two mines are down, leaving 600 people out of work, all while the President uses foreign steel for his own projects.”
He continued, “It’s time for Congress to work for the people again — not special interests, not party politics, and not the President. Join me in my run for Congress today. Website in Bio.”
Gulbranson, a Minnesota native, will be taking on 59-year-old Stauber, who is running for reelection. Dr. Wendell Smith, a general surgeon, is also seeking the nomination on the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party line in the August primary.
