Minnesota Lawyer

It’s been a dizzying 10 days for Democrats in Minnesota. It was back on August 15 that news reports first indicated that first-term DFL Rep. Kerry Gauthier was investigated – but not charged – by police for having oral sex with a 17-year-old male at a public rest stop.

Embattled DFL Rep. Kerry Gauthier shocked nearly everyone in the Minnesota political firmament on Wednesday morning when he announced that he plans to seek reelection to his seat in the state House of Representatives. The announcement came one week after it was publicly reported that Gauthier had been investigated by Duluth police following an incident in which he used a Craigslist ad to meet and have oral sex with a 17-year-old male at an area rest stop.

Michele Bachmann, running for her fourth term representing Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional district, pulled in just more than $1 million in the month of July, easily surpassing her fellow Minnesota Congressmen and women in total fundraising hauls, as well as her Democratic opponent Jim Graves, who raised $64,000 in that period.

A trio of DFL third-party groups -- comprised of Alliance for a Better Minnesota, Win Minnesota and the 2012 Fund -- are still significantly out-raising a slew of independent expenditures groups on the right. And in the battle of the anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment -- the most high profile fight this cycle and drawing the most donations -- groups opposing the amendment are still pulling in conservatively more than pro-amendment groups.