| Minnesota's 2008 Senate race is already attracting plenty of attention from national Democratic leaders.
Minnesota Monitor has received a credible tip that Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC) officials are meeting with Congressman Tim Walz from Minnesota's 1st District to convince him to enter the race against incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman. However, Walz's staff unequivocally denied that he would run for the Senate in 2008.
Radio personality and entertainer Al Franken has already declared his candidacy to face Coleman next November. A recent Rasmussen poll showed Franken trailing Coleman 46-36 approximately twenty months from the 2008 elections.
Walz, a first-term Congressman unseated six-term incumbent Gil Gutknecht in 2006, and has quickly made a name for himself in Congress, serving on the Agriculture Committee and speaking out on veterans' issues.
Walz's communications director, Meredith Salsbery, said, "Tim Walz is not and will not be a candidate for the United State Senate in 2008. He will be meeting with the DSCC in the near future to discuss how he can best help raise the profile of Minnesota's Senate race and he plans to do what he can to ensure the DFL Senate candidate wins Minnesota's 1st Congressional District in 2008."
Franken's campaign had no comment when asked about this development. The DSCC could not be reached for comment. |
