Last week we found out that Michele Bachmann was in the process of moving in the middle of her attempt to get reelected.
Today, the Pioneer Press’ Dennis Lien had a post that indicated that Bachmann’s campaign had no comment. It has since changed:
U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann is selling her Stillwater house and moving south to the Woodbury area, her office confirmed Monday morning.
“The congresswoman is putting her house up for sale and will be moving to the Woodbury area, of course still in the district,” Bachmann press secretary Stephen Miller said.
No big deal, right? Wrong. Woodbury happens to be in the farthest little corner of CD6. Not only is it even farther away from Saint Cloud, it’s a stone’s throw from both the current CD4 and CD2. Is someone preparing for redistricting?
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Wow. I can’t believe someone would move just so they can represent a certain constituency.
Wait…. Madia….. Franken….. oh, never mind.
Redistricting should be interesting if a seat gets lost. And Bachmann’s gerrymandered seat seems like the most likely candidate for redistricting. It would make sense for the western part to go to Peterson, the Northern part to go to Oberstar (rural areas are declining in population), keep two urban/suburban districts (Minneapolis plus inner burbs, St Paul plus inner burbs), and 2 metro suburban/exurb districts, and district 1 - Rochester plus south MN.
I still think that the St. Paul seat and the Minneapolis seat should be combined since there are no unique differences between the constituencies.
It doesn’t really matter where Bachmann lives, anyhoo. She doesn’t represent her district; she’d rather be in Texas.
I’ve been thinking that CD 2 and CD 3 could essentially merge, with a portion of 2 going into CD 1.
If the democrats can retain power, they should be able to draw something up that should give them a solid 5-2 or even a 6-1 advantage if/when we lose the seat. Merge the Kline/Ramstad areas(Eden Prairie and Lakeville together) while moving some to Ellison, give some of Bachmann’s territory to Oberstar and McCollum. Keeping Walz in the office and Bemidji in Peterson’s area will also be key.
Well, wouldn’t a primary runoff between Kline and his shadow Bachmann be interesting.
Don’t we have to wait until the 2010 Census is taken? (To answer that, check your United States Constitution to see what it says about “enumeration”) Don’t forget about the 2010 election. I think this speculation is all a little bit premature. So she moves from one house to another house. Big deal.
Does this mean that Tinklenberg doesn’t have a chance in 2008? Is he planning on running again in 2010 or are we going to see Patty Wetterling again?
Methinks the hype is a bit over blown.
Bachmann may move to upscale Woodbury, but her heart will always be in Crawford, with her dark lord.
I can’t stand Bachmann, but what the hell is this post about? She moved in the district to a city which would make it MORE likely for her to be redistricted with another Republican. Shouldn’t you be happy about that?
In 2006 Bachmann did not win in any of the precincts in Stillwater; she won about half of the dozen or so precincts in Woodbury.
Yeah, I don’t understand this post either. Why would this move be better for Bachmann in the event of redistricting? Now her home either gets thrown into a Saint Paul-centered district (doom) or in with Kline (a very difficult primary). If it were really calculated to position herself for a seat to be lost (and that is not an “if,” it is a “when” and a “which”), shouldn’t she have moved west? That would position her to go up against the winner of the Madia-Paulsen race in a district that stretches from the Hennepin suburbs north to St. Cloud.
And anyway, if the new governor is a Democrat and the DFL controls the legislature, they will ensure that no amount of moving gives her a decent seat. They will carve the 6th into at least four pieces and try to make Kline’s the only real Republican seat.
Am I missing something?
I bet she is taking a gamble that Stillwater ends up in either Oberstar’s or McCollum’s district, with Woodbury going into Kline’s. With Kline being 61, nearly the same age as retiring Ramstad, the odds are decent that he may step down in time for her to continue serving, perhaps with a slight 1-term interruption.
ps -
I realize that Oberstar is no spring chicken (74 yrs old) but that is a solidy blue district with a decent bench coming up — Ness and Sertich come to mind but I’m sure there are others.
Here’s a radical conspiracy theory for you………………maybe she and her family found a house that they really like in Woodbury??? NO! Common sense, Reason, and Logic shouldn’t prevail here! :)
I admit that part of me would love to see Ms Bachman have to go up against Betty McCollum.
As we learned earlier this year, McCollum is not afraid of a fight and can stand up to even the toughest pressure. And trust me, she was holding back in her criticism of Al Franken. Throw her up against Bachman and the only thing left will be Backman’s helmut hair-do.
If Minnesota loses a seat the rational thing to do would be to combine Minneapolis & St. Paul. You could make 3 outstate seats, 3 suburban seats and 1 city seat which would fairly represent respective voters.
Bachmann lost every Stillwater precinct, including her own. Those who know her best like her least — even her own neighbors. She’s probably moving to Woodbury to be closer to her mentor Jason Lewis in his five-bedroom, $750,000 palace.
Well, there’s always the article on Minnesota Independent!
Jesus Died for our enviro sins?
A Nony Moose: Both cities and the suburbs are growing (slightly) while Greater Minnesota loses population, so your plan won’t work with the one-person/one-vote requirement. More likely you’ll have 2 city, 2 purely suburban, 1 exurban (probably north/St.Cloud), and then 1 anchored in each of Rochester and Duluth. But you can slice and dice this a million different ways.
Thegipper: I actually think you have the only plausible explanation for Bachmann’s move!