For weeks, the political blogoshpere has been full of speculation that Assistant Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark might challenge Bachmann. On Wednesday, sources close to Clark tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS she will run.
Clark, a strong voice of the DFL-controlled Senate, has gained name recognition and an elevated standing in the party. It could also position her perfectly to take on the Republican many DFLers consider their public enemy number one.
In a statement to MinnPost.com’s Eric Black, Clark says that she’ll make an announcement “in the near future“:
“Sen. Clark is not ready to formally announce her candidacy for Congress from the Sixth District, but recently she has spent a great deal of time meeting with political leaders and key donors in the Sixth and across the state. She’s been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support she’s received. She knows how important it is to make a decision soon and wants to hit the ground running if she decides to run. She’ll formally announce her decision in the near future.”
Clark’s entry in this race will set off a spirited three-way endorsement battle that will also feature ’08 nominee Elwyn Tinklenberg, and Maureen Reed, who ran for Lt. Governor on the Independence Party ticket in 2006 and recently raised $232K in the second quarter.
It all makes you wonder if Tinklenberg is regretting his decision to surrender $250K to the DCCC back in April. Tinklenberg campaign manager (and friend of SSP) Dana Houle says that they’ll fight hard to win the party’s nomination, but his job just got a whole lot tougher.
(H/T: Taegan Goddard)
RaceTracker wiki: MN-06
I was extremely disappointed in Tinklenberg’s run. I’ll be sending Clark a check as soon as she makes it official.
I think so in terms of how it improves our chances for beating the Republican candidate over the other choices for the district. I was very happy to hear that Clark was getting into this and I think she stands a good chance at Musgraving Bachmann!
This is the best news I’ve heard since… well, since I heard she was considering! DFL, and sixth district primary voters, don’t you dare screw this up. 🙂
Now if only we could move that primary date up, so Clark could take advantage of the anti-Bachmann sentiment in her fundraising. Get her on MSNBC, please!
That’s DHinMI, right? I’ve liked his posts and point-of-view since way back in the early days of DKos. (When was he a front-pager with DemfromCT; was that 2004 or 2003?)