a lesbian congresswoman lost her senate race and has applied, on the radio, to run the wnba. honestly? hire her.
Rep. Angie Craig, official portrait. Photo: US House of Representatives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
via WCCO Radio and the Minnesota Star Tribune
Most members of Congress on their way out take a board seat, a lobbying gig or a book deal. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota has her eye on the WNBA.
"WNBA commissioner is every middle-aged lesbian's dream job," Craig told Sydney Kashiwagi of the Minnesota Star Tribune in an interview published Tuesday. "If the WNBA called, that's the one job my wife would say, 'Take the call,' at this moment in time." The Daily Mail picked it up on Wednesday under a headline saying she had "bizarrely" claimed it, which, respectfully, she did not. It is the least bizarre thing a 54-year-old lesbian has ever said.
she already said it on the radio
She had road-tested the line days earlier. On Oct. 2, WCCO's Vineeta Sawkar told her she had been hearing Craig's name for the job, and Craig opened with "of course, every middle-aged lesbian's dream job," per the episode audio, which WCCO titled with the quote. Now that she is leaving, she added, she can say whatever she wants. "My dream job is open," she said, and noted the league has hired a recruiter.
Her pitch, such as it was: she comes from the business world and helped grow a company from $1 billion to $6 billion in revenue, which she admitted "didn't help me at a Democratic primary." She has also stood with the players and worn the shirts asking that they be paid what they deserve. "I'd be an awfully player-oriented commissioner," she said, which is either a qualification or a disqualification depending on who is doing the hiring. Sawkar asked whether she would wear a Twin Cities skyline dress if she ever handed the Lynx a title. She said she would.
how we got here
Craig gave up her House seat to run for Senate and lost the Democratic primary to Peggy Flanagan, so she is out of Congress in January. When the WNBA thanked Cathy Engelbert, its outgoing commissioner, in September, Craig quote-posted it with "Hey, @WNBA, I'm a free agent in January" and a smirk emoji. That was the soft launch. This is the hard launch.
She is a Lynx fan with a jersey the team sent her after her first election, and on WCCO she said that if there is anyone in Minnesota sports she has confidence in, it is Cheryl Reeve, the coach who answered Enes Kanter Freedom by winning coach of the year. It is a cleaner fit than most cover letters. And unlike Riley Gaines, she will not need anyone to tell her who is in the stands.
