Freshman Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., has lined up behind state Sen. Tarryl Clark, D, in the Democratic primary to take on Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann.

In an e-mail to supporters Wednesday, Franken wrote that Clark "delivered for her district as a state senator, and she'll do the same for the residents of the 6th District as their representative in Congress," and asked them to join him in supporting Clark campaign and donating to her campaign. Franken himself has proven his fundraising mettle, raising more than $25 million for his 2008 campaign and the ensuing recount.

Clark is the Minnesota party establishment favorite, and has already earned a large number of labor union endorsements, but she faces a potential primary contest against Maureen Reed, a physician and former Independent Party lieutenant governor candidate who surprised observers with her strong fundraising since joining the race in the spring.

An expensive Democratic primary is brewing in Minnesota's 6th Congressional dDstrict, with two well-funded would-be challengers moving towards a showdown to take on Republican Michele Bachmann.

The party establishment favorite, state Sen. Tarryl Clark, announced Monday that she has raised in impressive $308,000 since declaring her candidacy July 28. The campaign will report just under $270,000 in the bank at the end of September.

Physician Maureen Reed, Clark's rival for the Democratic nomination, announced a $130,000 fundraising quarter. After taking in more than $200,000 in the second quarter, the former Independent Party lieutenant governor candidate has over $300,000 cash on hand.

Minnesota state Sen. Tarryl Clark has gained early front-runner status over physician Maureen Reed in their contest for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, one of Congress' most outspoken conservative firebrands.

But Reed, who officially unveiled her full campaign team Friday, is ceding no ground to Clark in the 6th District Democratic contest.

In addition to hiring a campaign manager, several field staffers and a communications director, the Reed campaign has also signed up Lake Research Partners -- headed by prominent Democratic pollster Celinda Lake -- and Sandberg Communications to help with strategy and communications.

Reed signaled at mid-year that she wouldn't be easily dismissed as she reported a big fundraising haul for the year's second quarter, raising more than $200,000 in just two months after announcing her candidacy. Her third quarter fundraising report, due by Oct. 15, will be another test of the strength of her campaign.

If you thought you were seeing Rep. Michele Bachmann every time you turned on the television, it's because you probably were.

The Smart Politics blog, from the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, has an illuminating analysis of the 6th District congresswoman's surging national media exposure.

The study, which examined media transcripts from the day Bachmann took office in 2007, found that the Minnesota Republican, who has a penchant for making controversial statements, has made 22 appearances on national cable news programs so far this year, matching her total number of appearances for all of 2008. "Representative Bachmann has thus substantially increased her national profile from averaging one national cable television news interview every 16.6 days in 2008 to one appearance every 9.1 days thus far in 2009," wrote Eric Ostermeier, the center's research associate.

Democrat El Tinklenberg withdrew from Minnesota's 6th District race Tuesday, an abrupt reversal after weeks of tough talk about how he was the best candidate to take on Republican incumbent Michele Bachmann among a crowded field of Democrats.

Tinklenberg, who lost to Bachmann by just 3 percentage points in 2008, issued a statement saying, "While the image of the next campaign against Michele Bachmann is certainly energizing, the path to that campaign is becoming increasingly improbable."

State Democrats weren't commenting Tuesday, but it's likely Tinklenberg got the hint that he was not their first choice for the nomination this time around, given state Sen. Tarryl Clark's entry into the race last week. Still, Tinklenberg gave no inkling that he was willing to step aside as buzz about Clark's run built in July, declaring defiantly in the local press that he was prepared to run in a competitive primary and believed he was the "only one" who could beat the colorful and controversial Bachmann.

Tarryl Clark, a high-ranking Democrat in the Minnesota Senate, officially announced Wednesday that she will seek to challenge two-term Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann in what could be one of the most hotly contested House races in 2010.

Clark, who also filed paperwork to confirm her plans, took the wraps off a 6th District campaign that she had been inching toward for weeks. And, in an e-mail to supporters, Clark took a few swipes at Bachmann, who has been highly quotable -- and often acerbic -- as an outspoken and highly partisan House conservative.

Wrote Clark: "For the past few years, the 6th District's representation in Congress has been about missed opportunities."

"It's time to deliver more than a sound bite," she continued. "Representative Bachmann's biggest accomplishments are creating controversy instead of creating good jobs, and working the talk-show circuit instead of helping working families."

In another sign that Tarryl Clark is seriously considering a run for Congress, the popular state senator filed a statement organization for a federal campaign committee, Friends of Tarryl Clark.

That would make her the third Democrat vying to upend second-term Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann.

In the paperwork, filed July 17 with the Federal Election Commission and published today on the agency's Web site, Clark indicates she will seek Bachmann's Minnesota's 6th District seat.

Adding more spice to what already promises to be a heated race, one of the Democratic candidates looking to take on Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is now saying he won't bow out if he does not win the party's nomination.

From Eric Black at MinnPost.com: Minnesota 6th District candidate El Tinklenberg will not pledge to abide by the party's endorsement process and "will be prepared to run in a primary."

Minnesota's political parties have the somewhat unique tradition of formally nominating candidates for general election races, which oftentimes, but not always, clears the primary field for the chosen one. Tinklenberg, himself, has abided by the nomination process in the past, dropping out after he lost the party's endorsement in 2006 and obtaining the endorsement in 2008. He eventually lost to Bachmann by three percentage points.

Minnesota physician Maureen Reed could be a force to be reckoned with in the race for Michele Bachmann's 6th District seat. Reed, a Democrat, raised $232,000 in the two months since declaring her candidacy in early May, virtually all from individual donors.

That nearly matches Bachmann, who has become something of a conservative darling and liberal pariah over her two terms in Congress and thus enjoys a far higher national profile than Reed. She raised $285,000 in the second quarter of the year. And it trumps fellow Democratic contender and 2008 nominee El Tinklenberg, who totaled just $55,000 in receipts.

Bachmann retained a strong cash advantage, with $389,000 in the bank at the end of June compared to $219,000 for Reed and $199,000 for Tinklenberg.

The Democratic Governors Association in a fundraising e-mail Tuesday highlighted Florida, Alaska, Georgia and Minnesota as 2010 takeover opportunities.

"We know we can take back the governor's mansion in every one of these states. But these are historically Republican seats, and in this crucial election, we won't win them without a fight," DGA National Political Director Ray Glendening wrote in the fundraising pitch.

Three of the races are open seat contests and in the fourth, Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin has yet to confirm her intention to seek re-election.

Republican state Rep. Paul Kohls is the latest to enter the 2010 race for Minnesota governor -- joining a roster of candidates that has grown quickly since GOP incumbent Tim Pawlenty announced on June 2 that he will not run for a third term.

Kohls, who is in his fourth state House term and sits on the chamber's finance and tax committees, announced his candidacy on Thursday. He said in a statement that his campaign will focus "on issues of fiscal responsibility and limited government."

"We need to do a much better job setting priorities," said the resident of Victoria, located in the western exurbs of Minnesota's Twin Cities.

Don't get Minnesota attorney Chris Johnston started on Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, whom he refers to on his blog www.beatmichelle.blogspot.com, as an "'anti-American' hurling, malaprop- spouting, they took me out of context, Congresswoman,"

But Johnston is no liberal activist. In fact, he says he and Bachmann "share some strong conservative beliefs." As the Minnesota Independent first noted, Johnston is considering a challenge to the second-term congresswoman in a Republican primary because "the people of the 6th District deserve to be represented by someone who thinks before they speak."

Bachmann has a strong base of conservative support in her district and around the country, and one man does not a groundswell of opposition make. Johnston also lost his one previous bid for office, for the state Senate in 2002. But as Johnston noted on his blog, some local Republicans "are worried that should I run that the 'DFLers will line up...' to vote for me in the primary just to beat Bachmann."

It's been less than 24 hours since Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced he would not seek re-election and already dozens of names are being floated as possible successors. But it was House Minority Leader Marty Seifert who made the first concrete move with an announcement Wednesday that he would step down from his leadership role in the state House as he considers a gubernatorial run.

Seifert told reporters he was "very serious" about the governor's race but has to "find out if the initial support is there."

"Right now I'm feeling very good about the support that's there," he added. Seifert said he expects to make a decision in the next few months.

Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann's outspoken and sometimes controversial conservatism has drawn her an unusual amount of national attention for a second-term House member. But Bachmann's House office says don't expect her to rush into statewide politics -- even though the state's 2010 governor's race became wide-open Tuesday with Republican incumbent Tim Pawlenty's announcement that he would not seek a third term.

"I do not anticipate Congresswoman Bachmann will be running for Governor," spokeswoman Debbee Keller told CQ in an e-mail. "She is very happy representing the people of Minnesota's Sixth District in the U.S. Congress."

That statement does seem to leave some wiggle room, and, as University of Minnesota's Lawrence Jacobs noted, Bachmann "is someone who would do very well in terms of the party's endorsement process." The challenge for the congresswoman would be winning over enough moderates in the Democratic-leaning state in the general election.