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Tuesday, January 31, 2006

MN-06: Wetterling Won't Run for LG, But Might Run for Congress

Posted by DavidNYC

The St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting that Patty Wetterling has declined to run for Lt. Gov. with AG Mike Hatch. However, she's apparently still considering a run in MN-06 (the seat she tried for in 2004). Current 6th CD Dem candidate El Tinklenberg is claiming that Wetterling said she wouldn't run against him - but was this a "looked him in the eye" or a "go for it"?

Soon enough, we'll see both candidates' 4Q fundraising figures. Remember, through the end of the quarter, Wetterling was running for Senate. If Tinklenberg's House numbers are comparable, then perhaps Wetterling should consider staying out of the race.

Posted at 10:24 AM in 2006 Elections - House, Minnesota | Technorati

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Comments

The 4Q numbers will probably seal the fate of Coleen Rowley's candidacy.

Then again this doesn't help either.

Posted by: RBH at January 31, 2006 10:49 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

im very upset with the confusion and seeming state of dissaray of the DFL. needless to say im not very impressed with the current chairmans performance-he should be doing a better job of directing "political traffic" so to speak. who is it now-i believe its Brian Melendez-right? wetterling should have been in the 6cd race all along. and letting this jerk peter hutchinson run and CLAIM to be different, im sick of it all

Posted by: jcb at January 31, 2006 10:57 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Wouldn't the Wetterling-related events be more of a Wetterling confusion than a DFL confusion? It was her decision to run for the Senate, maybe the DFL didn't work hard enough to get her in the House Race. But she made the decision.

Posted by: RBH at January 31, 2006 11:09 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

It does seem like the DFL is turning this into a bad rendition of "Who's on First?" And this is really unfair to El Tinklenberg -- he's either going to have to face Wetterling in a primary, or look like he was a "second choice" candidate. This going into a campaign where the DFL was poised to post gains at the statewide, congressional, and state legislative level. UUGH!!!!

And IMHO, Collen Rowley should be ashamed of herself. Just as we are fighting off these vile "swift boat" attacks on Democratic vets running for office, her campaign pulls this kind of offensive crap. She's been a terrible candidate.

Posted by: IndianaProgressive at January 31, 2006 11:28 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

A couple points of interest:
Brian Melendez is the current Chair of the DFL. Patty Wetterling was in the Senate race before Melendez was selected as chair in a tight three-way contest.
Coleen Rowley's candidacy is now turning into a bad joke. St. Sen., and centrist Sharon Marko is contemplating running against Rowley in a primary (I urge her to do so).
Tinklenberg may get pushed out of the way here. It is a shame, he is a fine candidate.

Posted by: DFLer22 at January 31, 2006 11:44 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Rowley was much better as a whistleblower than as a candidate.

But at least the volunteers for Rowley have learned a valuable lesson, which is "Don't photoshop your opponent's face onto the body of Col. Klink"

Posted by: RBH at January 31, 2006 01:43 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

What did I miss here? What did Coleen Rowley say?

As for Wetterling, I can't fathom why she wouldn't jump at the opportunity for her best option at this point...running with Mike Hatch on the gubernatorial ticket. I thought that was the reason she dropped out of the Senate race. I suppose she could run for MN-06, but at this point would cause bad blood among the district's Dems due to Tinklenberg's long-standing candidacy. Right when I think I've figured out what's going on in this woman's head, she makes another strange choice.

Posted by: Mark at January 31, 2006 02:12 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Mark -- for the story, see the link in RBH's link -- in the first comment on this post (Then again this didn't help either).

Posted by: IndianaProgressive at January 31, 2006 02:18 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment