Michele Bachmann

Michele M. Bachmann has been a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the Sixth Congressional District of Minnesota, since 2007.

Iraq War

 * Bachmann supports President Bush's policies in Iraq and believes the military must "stay the course."

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Social security

 * Bachmann favors privatization of Social Security.

Minimum wage

 * Bachmann opposes minimum wage increases.

Gay rights/marriage

 * Bachmann supports a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

Biography
Bachmann was born on April 6, 1956. She graduated from Anoka High School in 1974. She then attended Winona State College, from which she graduated in 1978 with a degree in political science and English. .

She met her future husband, Marcus Bachmann, at Winona; they began dating in 1976 while working together on Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign. The couple married in 1978 and moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bachmann's husband, Marcus Bachmann, operates a Christian counseling center in the St. Croix valley area. He has a master's degree in counseling from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and a doctorate in clinical psychology from the Union Institute & University in Cincinnati. 

After moving to Tulsa, Michele Bachmann enrolled at the Bible-based Coburn School of Law, an affiliate of Oral Roberts University. She earned a Juris Doctorate at Coburn in 1986, and a post-doctorate degree from William and Mary Law School in Virginia in 1988.

From 1988 to 1993, Bachmann was a U.S. Treasury Department attorney in St. Paul, Minnesota, representing the IRS against people who underpaid or failed to pay their taxes. Bachmann left that job to become a full-time mother. She has also had more than twenty foster children in her care. 

Minnesota state legislature
In 1999, Bachmann ran as one of a slate of GOP candidates for the Stillwater, Minnesota school board, normally a non-partisan election. She and the other GOP-endorsed candidates did not win.

In 2000, Bachmann won election as a state senator when she unseated fellow Republican Gary Laidig, who had held the seat for 28 years. Bachmann had won the GOP endorsement; the two then faced each other in the primary. In the general election, Bachmann defeated DFL nominee Ted Thompson.

In 2002, Bachmann faced a 10-year incumbent, DFL state senator Jane Krentz, after district lines were redrawn following the 2000 census. Bachmann won the election by 9 percentage points.

2006 elections
Bachmann defeated Democrat Patty Wetterling 50% to 42% in the 2006 congressional elections to replace Rep. Mark Kennedy, who vacated the seat to run for the U.S. Senate. 

Money in politics
cid=N00027493&cycle=2008

110th Congress committees

 * House Committee on Financial Services
 * Subcommitee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises
 * Subcommitee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology
 * Subcommitee on Oversight and Investigations

Twitter
 Michele Bachmann posts on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MicheleBachmann/

Latest posts: http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/MicheleBachmann.rss|title=none| max=3| short See all the members of Congress who Twitter

Resources

 * Michele Bachmann for Congress, official campaign site.

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * MN Publius.com
 * Inside Minnesota Politics
 * Minnesota Campaign Report
 * Centrisity
 * Wetterling v. Bachmann
 * Dump Michelle Bachmann, DumpBachmannBlogspot.com.

Articles

 * G.R. Anderson, Jr., "Michele Bachmann heads an all-star cast of GOP Christian flat-earthers in the Sixth District. Somebody Say Oh Lord!" CityPages.com, February 23, 2005.
 * "The Top 10 Conservative Idiots: No. 9: Michelle Bachmann," DemocraticUnderground, April 11, 2005.
 * Brian Hokanson, "Will the real academic freedom please stand up?" University of Minnesota, May 22, 2005.
 * Chris Cillizza, "Minnesota: Two House Races Getting Hotter," Washington Post, May 8, 2006.
 * Eric Black, "Running against Bush. Rubber-stamp Bachmann?" Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN), May 11, 2006.
 * Eric Black, "Rove stumps for Bachmann, Kennedy. The president's tactician was in town for twin fundraisers for candidates in high-profile races," Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN), July 21, 2006.
 * "Rove Can't Rescue Bachmann's Floundering Campaign, Says Democratic National Committee," U.S. Newswire, July 21, 2006.
 * "Know When to Hold Them," The American Spectator, July 25, 2006.
 * Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, "Minnesota House Race Pits Two Women Whose Politics Couldn't Be More Different," Fox News, July 31, 2006.
 * Captain Ed, "Meet The Rightroots Candidates (Update & Bump)," Captain's Quarters Blog, August 1, 2006. See Rightroots
 * "Conservative bloggers begin fundraising effort for GOP candidates," The Raw Story, August 2, 2006.
 * Andy Birkey, "Michele Bachmann Speech at Church Could Cause Tax Troubles," Minnesota Monitor, October 15, 2006.