Potential Bachmann foe didn’t fare well in prior run for elected office

Chris Johnston, the Woodbury attorney who is mulling a primary challenge against Michele Bachmann, has run one previous campaign. In 2002 he challenged state Sen. Dick Cohen (pictured), a St. Paul Democrat who’s been in office since 1976. The result: Johnston got 26.4 percent of the vote.

Of course, running as a Republican in DFL-dominated St. Paul isn’t exactly a formula for electoral success. Johnston actually garnered more votes than Cohen’s GOP challengers in the 2000 and 2006 elections.