Tinklenberg withdraws from 6th District race
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Democrat Elwyn Tinklenberg said today he is ending his campaign for Congress in Minnesota's 6th District. This would have been his third attempt to unseat Republican incumbent Michele Bachmann.
Two other Democrats are also in the race -- State Sen. Tarryl Clark, and Maureen Reed, who ran on the Independence Party ticket for lieutenant governor in 2006.
"This is obviously not an easy decision for me, but I have come to the conclusion that its the right one," said Tinklenberg. "While the image of the next campaign against Michele Bachmann is certainly energizing, the path to that campaign is becoming increasingly improbable."
Tinklenberg said the prospect of a year-long primary battle against two other DFLers -- which would cost a great deal of time and money.
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"We're going to end up in a situation where instead of campaigning all summer long against Bachmann, we were not going to be able to campaign against her until late in September," Tinklenberg said. "And again, we would have had a very short timeframe for winning and I think that's a recipe for failure."
Tinklenberg lost to Bachmann in the 2008 election, and in 2006 he lost in the DFL primary to Patty Wetterling, who was defeated by Bachmann in the general election.
Soon after Tinklenberg's announcement, Clark picked up a big labor endorsement from AFSCME Council 5.
The union represents 43,000 public and nonprofit workers, including 5,000 in the district.
Bachmann is in her second term in a district that runs from the northern Twin Cities suburbs toward St. Cloud.
