Ashwin Madia

“Is the door closed? No it’s not,” State Sen. Terri Bonoff said to Minnesota Public Radio’s Polinaut yesterday, clarifying what the DFLer told the Minnesota Independent last week about another run for Congress in the Third District: “The door is open.” U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen’s fellow Republicans at Minnesota Democrats Exposed jumped on the news: “Bonoff [...]

Two ventures that commodify U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann are demonstrating just how demanding the market can be in a down economy. The maker of a Bachmann action figure complains they’re not selling like hotcakes — or even like Sarah Palins. And the second issue of a Bachmann-themed comic book undergoes an intense review by a [...]

Terri Bonoff is not running for Congress — yet. But the Democratic state senator, who lost a tough endorsement battle to Ashwin Madia in 2008, is seriously considering a challenge to freshman Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen. “I’m certainly not being lighthearted about it,” Bonoff says. “I love public service and I have a lot of work to do, whether it be for this state or at the national level.”

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to an American Indian jobs center in Minneapolis today carries special (if little-known) resonance with either end of her political career, from the time she arrived in what later became her California congressional district to the recent rightwing taunts she has taken over terrorism.

Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District is one of two 2010 House races that analysts view as competitive in the state. But whether the district attracts significant attention — and money — from Democrats will probably hinge on how strong a challenger emerges.

U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen’s campaign paid his wife more than $10,000 in the last five months of 2008, according to Federal Election Commission records. (No such revelations about his DFL opponent, a bachelor.)

Ashwin Madia’s campaign for Congress ended on Election Day with his loss to Erik Paulsen in Minnesota’s Third District. This week the former Marine embarked on another campaign: overturning the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Three Minnesota politicians — none of them now in office — received political donations from accused Ponzi schemer Sir Allen Stanford or his staff. Stanford’s largest and most recent gift ($2,300) was to Democrat Ashwin Madia, who tried unsuccessfully to succeed retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad last year.

Minnesota’s U.S. Representative-elect for the Third District, Republican Erik Paulsen, ran one of the best five House campaigns in the country, according to the Washington Post blog The Fix. Paulsen “beat back the anti-Republican trend,” writes Chris Cillizza, “by focusing on his own accomplishments in the state legislature.” The Fix tracked the Third District contest closely throughout the campaign season as one of the nation’s most competitive congressional contests. But in several ways Cillizza’s summary this morning doesn’t exactly square with how home-state observers might recall the race.

Political pundit Stu Rothenberg has unveiled his year-end awards and a trio of Minnesota politicians are among the nominees. Rep. Michele Bachmann makes the cut in the “Master of Self-Destruction” category owing to her Hardball meltdown. But given that she ultimately won re-election handily, Bachmann can hardly contend with disgraced pols such as Tim Mahoney [...]