Bachmann will not seek re-election in 2014
May 29, 2013
By Megan Busse
WASHINGTON, D.C.: On May 29, Minnesota's 6th Congressional District representative, Michele Bachmann (R), announced that she would not be seeking re-election to Congress in November 2014. She announced her plans in a video posted on her website, explaining "The law limits anyone from serving as president of the United States for more than eight years. And in my opinion, well, eight years is also long enough for any individual to serve as a representative for a specific congressional district."[1]
Bachmann was expected to face a tough election in 2014. A May 15, 2013 poll by Public Policy Polling showed Jim Graves, Bachmann's likely Democratic challenger in 2014, leading Bachmann 47% to 45%, respectively, with a 4.4 point margin of error. This race would have been a rematch of the 2012 election, one that Graves lost by 1.2%. Bachmann had already started to run campaign ads.[2]
Bachmann is also under FBI scrutiny over campaign funding misuse related to her 2012 presidential campaign. Andy Parrish, her former chief of staff has reportedly said in a sworn affidavit that Bachmann "knew and approved of" payments to Iowa state Senator Kent Sorenson. Legislators are not allowed to be employed by political campaigns. Peter Waldron, national field coordinator in Iowa for Bachmann's campaign, filed a FEC complaint alleging that Bachmann paid Sorenson and misused leadership PAC funds to pay campaign staff, including consultant Guy Short.[3] Bachmann said these allegations did not impact her decision to retire in 2014.[1]
Bachmann has represented the district since 2007. Bachmann gained national attention after winning the Ames Straw Poll in 2011 and delivering a Tea Party response to the State of the Union address in January of 2011.[4] She ran a short presidential campaign in 2012, dropping out after disappointing results in the Iowa Caucuses.[5]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Politico, "Michele Bachmann not running again" accessed May 29, 2013 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "election" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Politico, "Poll: Michele Bachmann in for tight fight," accessed May 21, 2013
- ↑ Washington Post, "FBI interested in Bachmann campaign finance case," accessed May 21, 2013
- ↑ Politico, "James Carville on Michele Bachmann: ‘Sad day’" accessed May 29, 2013
- ↑ ABC News, "Michele Bachmann Drops Out of Presidential Race," January 4, 2012
| |||||
