T.W. Budig
ECM Capitol Reporter

Democrat Patty Wetterling was endorsed for Congress on Saturday, May 13 at the Sixth District DFL convention in Monticello. But it wasnít easy.

Challenger Elwyn Tinklenberg staged an incremental battle with Wetterling for seven ballots before finally quitting the contest.

ìWe must endorse our strongest candidates,î Wetterling told convention delegates before the balloting.

ìAnd I am that candidate,î she said.

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A late comer to the congressional race, Wetterling will now face high-profile Republican State Sen. Michele Bachmann of Stillwater in the general election.

Independent Party candidate John Birkowski of St. Maryís Point is also in the 6th District congressional fray.

A long process

Balloting at the Monticello Community Center continued a good part of the afternoon with the endorsement for Wetterling a handful of votes away.

On the first ballot, with 82 votes for the endorsement needed, Wetterling garnered 78 votes, winning slightly more than 57 percent of the vote.

Wetterling supporters chanted ìEndorse! Endorse!î after the results were announced.

But Wetterlingís strength ebbed in the second ballot ó she lost eight votes.

The third and fourth ballots showed slight gains and losses between Wetterling and Tinklenberg.

ìIf he can hold his delegates through four, I think he can win,î said John Wodele, Tinklenberg strategist, speaking before the first ballot.

But on the seventh and last ballot, Wetterling missed the endorsement mark by just two votes and Tinklenberg dropped out.

ìHe made me a stronger candidate,î Wetterling said of the former Blaine mayor and Ventura Administration transportation commissioner.

Wetterling, 56, seemed upbeat as DFL delegates gathered at the community center Saturday morning.

ìIt looks and feels really good ó thereís energy in the (convention) room,î Wetterling said.

Down the hallway in his campaign office, Tinklenberg deemed the contest ìvery close.î

ìUltimately this has to be about who can beat Bachmann,î Tinklenberg said.

Indeed, Bachmannís presence almost became tangible as Democrats threw red meat rhetoric at her.

ìMichele is the devil in the blue dress and Patty is the saint,î said Sen. Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud.

Wetterling and Tinklenberg in brief speeches after the sixth ballot targeted Bachmann rather than each other.

ìSheís bad for everything Iíve ever believed in,î Wetterling said.

Anne Gabriel of Forest Lake, wearing a green ìTinklenberg for Congressî T-shirt, ìabsolutelyî takes Bachmann as a serious political rival.

ìI respect her intellect and her resourcefulness,î Gabriel said.

For Wetterling, the endorsement means a second chance in the Sixth District.

Thrust into the spotlight by the unsolved 1989 abduction of her son, Jacob Wetterling, Patty Wetterling ran against Sixth District Congressman Mark Kennedy in 2004 in a sharp-edged race, showing well but losing.

Wetterling then decided to forego the congressional race and run for U.S. Senate.

But this January, Wetterling felt the ingredients of a winning campaign were not coming together and dropped out.

Two weeks later, Wetterling announced her candidacy for Congress in the Sixth District.

Tinklenberg has pledged not to challenge Wetterling in the primary.

ìWeíre going out of this (convention) strong and united,î Gabriel said.

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