1st District: Tim Walz (D)
2nd District: John Kline (R)
3rd District: Jim Ramstad (R)
4th District: Betty McCollum (D)
5th District: Keith Ellison (D)
6th District: Michele Bachmann (R)
7th District: Collin Peterson (D)
8th District: Jim Oberstar (D)

Senate (Sr): Norm Coleman
Senate (Jr): Amy Klobuchar

What’s special about Minnesota’s representation in the upcoming 110th Congress?
more insideIt’s filled with names that should and will be at the forefront of important issues arising soon. Plenty of ink has already been spilled on the fact that Peterson and Oberstar will chair the Agriculture and Transportation Committees, respectively. However, Tim Walz is a veteran and will be a plain-spoken advocate for the Democrats’ position on Iraq. Keith Ellison is a perfect representation of the diversity in the new majority, and should be groomed as such. Betty McCollum will enter her fourth term with increasing seniority on the International Relations and Education and the Workforce committees. Even Jim Ramstad - although he now finds himself in the minority, he has considerable seniority built up in his party’s delegation to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Even in the Senate - Coleman is up for re-election in 2008, and will need to burnish his centrist credentials more than ever considering the new political climate in this state. Klobuchar may keep a lower profile as she learns the ins and outs of Senate business, but should provide a strong voice for Minnesota in her own time.

What’s the point here? Minnesota’s congressional delegation will be front and center in issues of national importance in the coming political cycle. Influence, earmarks, and a left-leaning delegation to a Democratic Congress -these are good things not just for one political party or another, but for the entire North Star State.