Hotline Notes CD6 Race
National Journal’s Hotline takes note of MN’s CD6 race.
One of the more consequential nominations for Democrats take place this weekend in Minnesota’s 6th District caucus, an open seat because GOP Rep. Mark Kennedy is running for the Senate. The district reaches from the Minneapolis suburbs to St. Cloud, a center of anti-abortion rights sentiment. It is the most Republican district in the state and Bush expanded his margin of victory here by 5 points from 2000 to 2004.
The Democrats thought they had a tailor-made candidate in former state Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg. He opposes abortion rights and gay marriage, and initially received support from the DCCC. Until February, he was running unopposed.
Then Patty Wetterling, who lost to Kennedy in 2004, threw a wrench into his plans. She entered the race late after dropping her bid for the Senate. Her position on social issues is to the left of the district, but she is a good bet to capture a majority of the 127 delegates who will determine the nomination.
The winner will face state Sen. Michele Bachmann, who earned a reputation as an outspoken cultural conservative in the legislature. Indeed, the DCCC cheered when she won the nomination, arguing in a release she had a “long history of siding with the radical right.”
But Democrats should be concerned about alienating values voters here. Bachmann drew many first-time, Christian conservative delegates to the Republican caucus last week, winning by a larger-than-expected 56 percent on the first ballot. Her ability to turn out Republicans might be bolstered if Wetterling is the Democratic nominee.
