New York Times focuses on Gutknecht-Walz race

Minn. Roundup: Walz a Legit Barrier to Gutknecht in 1st District

By Marie Horrigan
Published: October 17, 2006
CQPolitics.com

The race in Minnesota’s 1st District has been moved to the more competitive Leans Republican category from Republican Favored.

Minnesota’s 1st District: October has been a good month for Democrat Tim Walz, a retired command sergeant in the Army National Guard, high school teacher — and increasingly competitive contender for Congress in his first bid for public office. His wife gave birth to their second child, a boy, on Oct. 13. Meanwhile, on the political front, Walz appeared to be gaining steam in his bid to upset 12-year Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht in southern Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District.

[...]

The race, originally ignored by the well-funded campaign committees and outside groups,... began to draw serious cash for the first time in October — $123,000 in the month so far, according to Congressional Quarterly’s PoliticalMoneyLine.com.

The largest expenditure to date was a $91,000 media buy on Oct. 4 by the public service union AFSCME to run ads critical of Gutknecht. The National Republican Congressional Committee has gotten in on the action in recent days and has produced an attack ad against Walz; there is no word yet on what kind of media buy they would undertake.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has not spent any money on the race, but has listed it among its “emerging races” to watch — a signal to Democratic donors that they should consider pitching in to help Walz.

(The rest is here.)