Ashwin Madia

House Democratic leaders have been working hard on behalf of Democratic challengers, showering them with money and personal attention to expand their majority and to curry favor with future colleagues. Here in Minnesota, Ashwin Madia is the beneficiary of their campaigning.

UPDATED: Roll Call reports that the National Republican Congressional Committee is putting $11,200 into mailings meant to reduce voter support for David Dillon, the Independence Party candidate who’s running a distant third in the 3rd Congressional District race. A scan of the piece and more after the jump.

A KARE-TV report probes a recent ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee in which visual effects make Democratic congressional candidate Ashwin Madia’s skin darker.

This comes after state Republican officials held press conferences last month to highlight demographic differences between Indian-American Madia and residents of the 3rd Congressional District — in contrast to their own candidate, state Rep. Erik Paulsen, who is “one of them.” Video and more after the jump.

Erik Paulsen has diminished his record on a number of issues and present himself as moderate, so much so that any mention that he’s running as a Republican is absent from his campaign website. But his past is catching up with him: Focus on the Family’s James Dobson is throwing his support behind the candidate based on Paulsen’s conservative record on controversial wedge issues.

In today’s roundup of news in the 3rd Congressional District race, a new poll says it’s a tie, there’ll be one more debate (behind closed doors at United Health HQ), KSTP calls a Paulsen mailer “misleading,” the Washington Post owns up to putting the wrong photo for Erik Paulsen, and the Star Tribune editorial board fails to endorse. All this, including poll crosstab analysis and more, after the jump.

National Democratic and Republican campaign committees have so far spent more than $11 million on Minnesota’s congressional races this election season, according to the Campaign Finance Institute. The watchdog group has created a new tool to track expenditures on federal campaigns by such national organizations.

In the race to replace retiring 3rd District U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, Democrat Ashwin Madia has released a new TV ad titled “Check It Out,” contrasting his own economic positions (identified on screen with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s) with those of Republican state Rep. Erik Paulsen, whose policies it ties to President Bush. The ad [...]

While the country turned its fickle eyes to Minnesota’s suddenly compelling 6th Congressional District contest, the race for the state’s 3rd District didn’t stop being hot. Over the last two days, both major parties’ congressional committees unveiled new TV ads. Big male guns vouched for the Republican candidate, state Rep. Erik Paulsen, and big female guns tried to widen a gender gap for DFLer Ashwin Madia — while heaping derision on another female office-holder, state Rep. Michele Bachmann. All this and more, with video and details about tonight’s candidate debate in Edina, after the jump.

CQ Politics crunched the latest financial filings by candidates for Congress and put Minnesota state Rep. Erik Paulsen, with $2.2 raised so far in his campaign (as of Sept. 30), at No. 7 in the country for most cash raised among candidates for open House seats. His DFL rival, Ashwin Madia, is at No. 12 [...]

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visits Minnesota today to campaign for 3rd District DFL congressional candidate Ashwin Madia. Republican state Sen. Erik Paulsen’s new TV ad is called “Disturbing.” Independence Party candidate David Dillon held forth for an hour at the Humphrey Institute on Friday, and that night KSTP hosted a debate for all three contenders. Video and audio after the jump.