Bob Anderson, who received 10 percent of the vote in 2008 as the Independence Party candidate for Congress from the 6th District, may make another run in 2010. He announced his thinking in this blog entry on his campaign website.
If Anderson does run, that will further complicate an already complicated picture. To review.
Michele Bachmann, the two-term incumbent, may be the Repub whom Minnesota Dems would most like to beat. And many Dems believe that Anderson's presence on the ticket divided the anti-Bachmann vote and prevented Dem nominee Elwyn Tinklenberg from winning in '08 even after Bachmann's late-in-the-campaign remarks about Obama being "anti-American" caused a flood of new money to Tinklenberg.
Tinklenberg actually was endorsed in '08 by both the Dems and the IP. But Minnesota law prohibits a candidate from appearing on the ballot representing more than one party. So Anderson, a political unknown, ran in the IP primary and secured the IP ballot position.
Tinklenberg lost by just three percentage points. Many Dems figure that Anderson cost Tinklenberg the race. Tinklenberg ended the race with a lot of leftover campaign funds and was presumed to be the frontrunner for the DFL nomination for the same race in 2010. Tinklenberg gave a large portion of those leftover funds to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and raised very little money so far in 2009, which has reinforced doubts that some Dems have developed about his future candidacy. He has hired an experienced national campaign manager and recently said that if he doesn't receive the Dem endorsement, he would run in the primary.
State Sen. Tarryl Clark of St. Cloud is also planning to run for the Dem endorsement, although she has not publicly announced. Clark would be a serious contender, probably the front-runner for the endorsement. She hasn't said whether she will abide by the endorsement process.
Dr. Maureen Reed of Stillwater has announced her candidacy for the seat and said she will seek the endorsement of both the Dems and the IP, as Tinklenberg did last time. Reed's only previous candidacy was for lieutenant gov. on the 2006 IP ticket. But she has filed her papers as a Dem for 2010. Reed did post impressive fund-raising numbers for the first quarter of 2009. Reed has been unwilling to say whether she will abide by the DFL endorsement process.
Minnesota law hasn't changed. So it's possible that the IP could endorse Tinklenberg or Reed, but neither of them could get on the ballot as the IP candidate if they sought the DFL nomination in a primary. If Anderson was the only IP-er who filed in the IP primary, he would presumably again ahve the IP line on the ballot.
Bachmann has been rumored to be thinking about a run for governor, but has pooh poohed that talk and is presumed to be a candidate for reelection.
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