Bachmann raises money for Quist’s special election campaign
GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann has sent out an e-mail encouraging her supporters to give money to former state Rep. Allen Quist's campaign for the Minnesota House.
Quist is running in a special election to replace Rep. Terry Morrow, DFL-St. Peter. Morrow resigned earlier this month to take a job at the Uniform Law Commission in Chicago.
Bachmann's fundraising e-mail, dubbed, "This e-mail is about Minnesota," called Quist her "dear friend." She encouraged people to give up to $50 to his campaign.
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"I know in Minnesota-- the land of Mark Dayton and Al Franken-- Allen Quist will be a necessary check on the balance of power in St. Paul. With Democrats controlling the House, the Senate and the Governor's office in Minnesota, good conservatives like you, me and Allen will need to stand together to end the tax-more and spend-more policies of the left."
Quist is the only Republican running for the seat. He most recently lost his bid for Congress to DFL Rep. Tim Walz. Four Democrats and one Independence Party candidate have also filed for the seat.
Quist's wife, Julie, worked as Bachmann's district director between 2008 and 2011. Julie Quist and Bachmann also worked on conservative education issues during Bachmann's time in the Legislature.
Bachmann also encouraged her followers on Twitter to support Tama Theis who is running for the Minnesota House in the St. Cloud area. Gov. Dayton called a special election for that seat after Rep. Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud, resigned to lobby for the Center for Diagnostic Imaging.
Theis is the only Republican running for the seat after she won her party's endorsement. She'll face Democrat Joanne Dorsher and IP candidate Todd McKee on Feb. 12.
Filings close for both seats today.