WASHINGTON — Now that Rep. Michele Bachmann will not seek re-election to her House seat, a national Republican strategist passes on this list of potential GOP candidates to run for Congress in the 6th District in her place (in no particular order):
- State Rep. Tim Sanders
- Rep. Matt Dean
- Rep. David FitzSimmons
- Rep. Peggy Scott
- State Sen. Michelle Fischbach
- Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer
- St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis
- Anoka County Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah
- Former Rep. Phil Krinkie
- Former Rep. Jim Knoblach
- Former Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer
- Former U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hegseth
A note on the list: It's a combination of both people who have expressed interest in running already (according to the strategist) and those who have been mentioned as good possibilities by others, though my source wasn't able to say who fell into which category, at least at this point. The list, obviously, may contain a few people with no interest in running at all, and there may be several others who end up mulling a run. It's a bit of very early speculation, so take it with a grain of salt.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of State's website has an exhaustive list of all state officials elected to seats in the 6th District last November.
One last thing to remember as this whole process goes forward: You don't have to live in the district to represent it in Congress. It's rare, but not unheard-of. In fact, we have one example in Minnesota: Rep. Michele Bachmann, whose home in Stillwater was drawn into Rep. Betty McCollum's 4th District during redistricting last year.