Political Career
In the 2004 race for U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 6th District she challenged incumbent Republican Mark Kennedy. Wetterling decided to enter the race after Stillwater lawyer Janet Robert withdrew. Wetterling received a $1,000 campaign contribution donation from U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama, one of only 3 political contributions listed for Obama that year. Kennedy won the election with 54% of the vote to Wetterling's 46%.
Wetterling then entered the race for Mark Dayton's U.S. Senate seat in 2006 when Dayton announced he would not seek reelection. Wetterling withdrew from the race on January 20, 2006, and endorsed Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, who won the election.
After leaving the Senate race, Wetterling was publicly asked by Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch to run with him as Lieutenant Governor. Wetterling declined Hatch's offer. On February 3, 2006, Wetterling announced that she would once again run for Congress in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District. Wetterling's opponent for the DFL nomination was Elwyn Tinklenberg, former mayor of Blaine, Minnesota. A third DFL candidate, Scott Mortensen, dropped out early on.
On May 13, 2006, Wetterling won the DFL endorsement to face Republican state senator Michele Bachmann for the U.S. House seat. Wetterling lost the general election to Bachmann, 50% to 42%.
Read more about this topic: Patty Wetterling
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