Patty Wetterling

Patty Wetterling was the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee in the 2006 congressional election for the Sixth Congressional District of Minnesota (map). She ran against Republican Rep. Michele M. Bachmann to replace Rep. Mark Kennedy, who is running for Senate.

Biography
Born in 1947, Wetterling graduated from Minnesota State University in 1971. She worked as a junior high-school math teacher and insurance processor for her husband's chiropractic business until 1988. That year, her 11-year-old son Jacob was abducted by masked gunmen. He was never found. The incident caused Wetterling to devote her life to child advocacy, and she eventually worked on numerous projects to safeguard missing and exploited children. She unsuccessfully challenged Kennedy in the 2004 electoral cycle. 

2006 elections
Wetterling had been a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat held by Mark Dayton, who announced he was not seeking re-election, but withdrew on January 20, 2006. Upon that announcement, she endorsed Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, who became the eventual nominee.

After leaving the Senate race, Wetterling was publicly asked by Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch to run with him as Lieutenant Governor. Wetterling declined Hatch's offer. On February 3, 2006, Wetterling announced that she would once again run in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District. Wetterling's opponent for the DFL nomination was Elwyn Tinklenberg. A third DFL candidate, Scott Mortensen, dropped out several months prior to when Wetterling entered the race. On May 13, 2006, Wetterling won the DFL endorsement to face Republican state senator Michele Bachmann for the U.S. House seat in the north-metro Sixth Congressional District.

Resources

 * PattyWetterling.com, official campaign site.

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * MN Publius.com
 * Inside Minnesota Politics
 * Minnesota Campaign Report
 * Centrisity
 * Wetterling v. Bachmann
 * DFL Senate

Campaign contact information
Email: info@pattywetterling.com Phone: (763) 323-1803 Mail: Wetterling '06 PO Box 2295 St. Cloud, MN 56302-2295 Campaign Office: 2022 N Ferry St. Anoka MN 55303