Tinklenberg and Reed will both vie for DFL endorsement

There will be a battle to determine who will get the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party nod to take on Rep. Michele Bachmann in 2010. Nancy Schumaker, chair of the Sixth Congressional District DFL, confirms that both Elwyn Tinklenberg and Maureen Reed have told local party activists that they intend to seek the endorsement.

Tinklenberg, who narrowly lost to Bachmann last year, began calling local DFLers last week to announce his decision. Reed declared herself a candidate at last night’s gathering of Sixth Congressional District Democrats in Otsego.

Both challengers are also expected to seek backing from the Independence Party. Reed was formerly the IP’s candidate for Lt. Governor in 2006. Tinklenberg received the third party’s backing for his 2008 run.

Schumaker says there’s also been discussions with a third potential DFL candidate, but she won’t reveal the identity of that person. “There is a possibility,” she says.

The district is the most Republican in the state and will be an extremely difficult race for any Democrat. But Schumaker believes Tinklenberg would have won in 2008 if not for the presence of another (non-endorsed) IP candidate on the ballot, Bob Anderson, who garnered 10 percent of the vote. “For whatever reason the information was not put out there that El Tinklenberg was endorsed by both parties,” she says.