Democrat Jim Graves, who came within 4,300 votes of unseating Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th congressional district last November, is eager to run again.
“These days, Congress is all about scoring political points rather than actually solving problems, and Minnesota’s 6th District – my home – is losing out because of that more than anywhere,” said Graves in a statement announcing his candidacy. “I’m not interested in celebrity, only in solutions. As a businessman who has balanced budgets and created jobs, I’m running to work with both sides to find ways to balance the budget, keep our promises to seniors, create jobs and strengthen the middle class.”
A risk taker and proven job creator, Graves launched a hotel chain in 1979 and later co-founded the luxury Graves Hospitality Corporation, a hotel development and management company headquartered in Minneapolis.
A native of St. Cloud, the 59-year-old Graves believes that his 2012 candidacy was hampered by an unusually late start due to redistricting and thinks an early start this time could make all the difference.
“I think what happened last time is, we ran out of time and resources to reach out to everyone in the district,” he told the Washington Post. “We had very little support…and yet we came very, very close.”
Indeed. It wasn’t only the closest congressional contest in Minnesota last fall, but one of the most competitive House races in the entire country.
Receiving little in the way of support from national Democrats, Graves spent $2,549,383 in 2012, including $520,000 of his own money, but was still outspent by a ten-to-one margin.
According to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Bachmann, a prolific fundraiser, hauled in a staggering $25.9 million — nearly half from small contributors — to fend off her Democratic challenger.
That disparity could be erased in 2014. Given the Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate’s unexpectedly strong showing last year, most analysts believe that Graves, a former elementary school teacher-turned-highly successful entrepreneur, will receive considerably more financial assistance from his national party this time around.
The target of a potential congressional ethics probe related to her failed presidential campaign last year, Bachmann has been named as one of the top ten House members targeted for defeat next year by the liberal House Majority PAC.
A Super PAC organized in the spring of 2011, the House Majority PAC raised nearly $36 million for Democratic congressional candidates during the 2012 election cycle, according to the Center for Public Integrity.
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