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Mark Zdechlik
ST. PAUL, Minn.

Tea party favorite Gerson will challenge Rep. Kline again

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A South St. Paul Republican who unsuccessfully challenged 2nd District Rep. John Kline in the 2012 Republican primary is announcing another campaign against Kline today.

David Gerson takes issue with Kline's votes to raise the nation's debt ceiling. He also disagrees with Kline's support of national security related surveillance bills.

"He says that he's for limited government and free markets and individual liberty but he doesn't vote that way. He's voting for bigger government, debt increases and taking away our liberty."

Kline responded to an inquiry about Gerson's candidacy with a statement saying he will continue fighting what he called the "ObamaCare train wreck."

Gerson was a favorite of tea party supporters in his last campaign. But he says the label "traditional Republican" suits him better than "tea partier."

"We want to redefine what the Republican Party is and it's back to our original platform," he said. "These aren't any extreme ideas, this is just us actually voting for our platform. I don't think people get that."

Last year Gerson won less than 15 percent of the 2nd District GOP primary vote. This time, Gerson says he will not challenge whoever wins the GOP endorsement.