Cash crunch, crowded field led to Tinklenberg’s exit

Elwyn Tinklenberg (Photo: Paul Demko)

A tough fundraising climate and crowded candidate field contributed to Elwyn Tinklenberg’s decision to pull out of the 6th Congressional District contest just one week after announcing his candidacy. The former Blaine mayor, who in 2008 narrowly lost to the Republican incumbent, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, raised just $55,000 in the second quarter of this year and faced two challengers from within the DFL.

“Fundraising is difficult for everybody right now, not just here in this district but nationally,” said Dana Houle, who last week signed on to be Tinklenberg’s campaign manager. “Asking people for contributions so that the next 13 months could be spent running against Democrats was just a really difficult thing to look at.”

Tinklenberg finished the last campaign with nearly $500,000 in the bank, a result of being flooded with donations in the final weeks of the campaign following Bachmann’s infamous “Hardball” meltdown. But that slush fund had largely been spent in the ensuing months, most notably through a pair of $125,000 contributions to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in March. At the end of June, Tinklenberg had just under $200,000 in the bank.

Houle said he remains confident that Tinklenberg could have defeated Bachmann, but that the entry of state Senate Assistant Majority Leader Tarryl Clark into the race made it clear that the path to the general election would be extremely arduous. Tinklenberg will not immediately endorse either of the remaining challengers.

“It’s premature at this point,” Houle said. “It’s still a long ways before the convention and 13 months before the primary. We don’t know what the field will look like.”

Houle moved to Minnesota from Washington, D.C., to helm Tinklenberg’s campaign. He’s been living with the candidate and his wife, however, so the aborted effort won’t be too much of an inconvenience.

“It’s not a big disruption in my life,” he said. “I’m confident I’ll end up on another campaign.”

Nancy Schumaker, chair of the 6th District DFL, said Tinklenberg left her a message this morning breaking the news.

“I’m sorry because El is a very, very nice, terrific man,” she said. “I’m very much sorry to see him go.”

Schumaker said a three-candidate primary would have sharpened the political skills of Bachmann’s would-be challengers, but also acknowledges that Tinklenberg’s departure should make for a less bloody intra-party contest.

“When you have two people instead of three, of course the odds improve,” she said. “It’s just simple math.”