Despite being moved into a heavily Democratic district, it appears Minnesota Congresswoman and former GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann will be able to run in safely Republican territory.
A redistricting decision announced Tuesday afternoon put Bachmann’s home in Minnesota’s 4th Congressional District, which is currently held by Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum. Bachmann, however, says she will instead run again in her old Republican-favored 6th District.
“I’m announcing today that I will be running in the 6th Congressional district,” Bachmann said, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. “I’ll continue my service to the people in the district where I essentially went to junior high, high school, college, had my babies born and we built our business and we have our church and our family.”
When asked if she would move back to the 6th District, Bachmann demurred, saying she is not sure “what we will be doing on that front.”
Bachmann, who frequently played up her Iowa roots before that state’s presidential primary, would have been left in an extremely vulnerable position should she have decided to run against McCollum. The 4th District is overwhelmingly Democratic, while the 6th District became slightly more Republican leaning after the redistricting decision.
On Saturday Bachmann expressed concern that the new redistricting decision could leave her vulnerable. “All eyes will be on the outcome of the new districting maps, and the Democrats and liberal media are on the edge of their seats in hope that I will have a highly challenging re-election,” she wrote in an email to supporters, reports Roll Call. (RELATED: More on Michele Bachmann)
Besides the changes made to the 4th and 6th districts, the state’s map remained relatively unchanged as far as the state’s congressional delegation is concerned. The new lines set Tuesday are expected to be in effect for the next ten years.