Even before Franken went public with his letter of concern, the Republican Party of Minnesota was targeting the Democratic incumbent for what it called "broken promises."

Mike McFadden, who hopes to challenge sitting Democrat Al Franken, hasn't cast a ballot in a primary for the last 20 years. Other GOP candidates for the seat, including Rep. Jim Abeler, Sen. Julianne Ortman and Chris Dahlberg have been involved in the process.

In mid-May, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s campaign bought roughly $80,000 worth of television advertising in the Twin Cities market. But just two weeks later, Bachmann stunned seemingly everyone by announcing on Wednesday that she would not be running for re-election.

It's been just six weeks since Graves, who lost to Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann by just 1 percent last year, had announced his intention to earn a rematch with Bachmann in 2014

**UPDATED** U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann's surprise decision to not seek re-election has produced a frenzy of speculation about who might seek the GOP nomination in Minnesota's most conservative congressional district. At least a dozens names have been floated as possible successors to the four-term incumbent.

Republicans are mired in an extended losing streak in statewide political contests. Since 2006, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty won re-election with 47 percent of the vote, Republicans have been shut out. That dubious streak reached a nadir of sorts last year, when U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar won re-election by nearly 35 percentage points over GOP challenger Kurt Bills.

The wounds had started to heal by the time Minnesota Republicans faced each other at an annual activist gathering in Blaine over the weekend. Many Republicans had already come to terms with the drubbing that took place on Nov. 6, when both Republican legislative majorities and two GOP-led constitutional amendments were rejected by voters.

The Zellers endorsement comes on top of nearly three dozen House GOP caucus members who've backed Bills thus far.

The Hegseth campaign also announced the support state lawmakers Rep. Kurt Daudt and Sen. Dave Brown and former state GOP Chair Ron Eibensteiner.

Hegseth gained the backing of a Washington-based Super PAC named "Reclaiming Freedom," an organization that's committed itself to unseating Senate Democrats this fall.