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8th District: Rod Grams


SNAPSHOT
Grams floated a trial balloon about a run for Senate that went nowhere and he decided not to pursue the seat he once held, thus avoiding an intra-party squabble with Rep. Mark Kennedy. In May 2006, however, he announced he would seek the 8th Congressional District seat held by Rep. James Oberstar. . After first being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, Rod Grams gained the distinction of being the first freshman in the 103rd Congress to get legislation enacted into law: a bill to provide regulatory relief for loans for those devastated by the 1993 Midwest flood. He also pushed a $500 per child tax credit. But much of his focus during his Senate term was revamping Social Security, an issue that really didn't come into its own in Congress until President Bush proposed in 2005 what Grams was proposing in the late '90s. Grams says he was motivated to run for Senate because of the issues that have surfaced in Congress now are the issues he was trying to spearhead then.

Candidate Bio

Rod Grams
Political affiliation:
Republican Party
Born:
February 4, 1948
Princeton, MN
Personal:
Married, four children from previous marriage. Resides in Crown. Lutheran.
Occupation:
Owns three radio stations in Little Falls. Homebuilder. Was anchorman for KMSP-TV in the Twin Cities.
Education:
Carroll College, Helena, MT
Major political experience:
Grams ran and won a U.S. House seat in the 6th Congressional District. He defeated 10-year incumbent Democratic Rep. Gerry Sikorski in 1992. He was elected to the U.S. Senate, replacing the retiring Dave Durenberger in 1996.

Campaign Finances

Total contributions
$335,143
Total disbursements
$241,489
Cash on hand
$93,654
Source: Federal Election Commission. October 2006

Links and Resources

Open Secrets
Document Rod Grams

Candidate Pages

Polls suggest the war in Iraq will be a major issue for voters in the November election. The two leading candidates in Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District are on opposite sides of the war. (07/26/2006)
Four DFL candidates for the 5th District Congressional seat discussed their views on the fighting between Israel and Lebanon in a debate Tuesday night in Minneapolis. (07/26/2006)
Four of the DFLers seeking to replace retiring 5th District Congressman Martin Sabo debated the war in Iraq, health care and poverty issues Monday. The four DFLers agreed on a number of major national issues, but tried to differentiate themselves based on their experience. (07/24/2006)
Matt Entenza, the DFL-endorsed candidate for attorney general dropped his candidacy Tuesday, setting off a flurry of last-minute filings for the September primary. Five DFL candidates are now in the running. (07/18/2006)
DFL Attorney General candidate Matt Entenza says he's horrified and embarrassed by revelations that a Chicago firm he hired dug for dirt on current DFL Attorney General Mike Hatch. He says he will apologize to Hatch, his fellow Democrat, the party's endorsed candidate for governor. (07/13/2006)
Republican Party officials are calling on two of the state's top Democrats to come clean on an apparent feud between them. (07/12/2006)
Republican Gil Gutknecht is running for re-election in Minnesota's 1st Congressional District, long considered the most conservative in the state. But Democrats say that may be changing, and predict Gutknecht will be vulnerable this time around. (07/07/2006)
The Rev. Jesse Jackson rallied support for DFLer Keith Ellison's campaign for the 5th Congressional District seat in Minneapolis Friday afternoon. (06/30/2006)
If elected, Rep. Keith Ellison would be the first African American congressman from Minnesota and the first Muslim congressman in the nation's history. But Ellison's past, in particular his relationship with the Nation of Islam, are causing some Jewish activists and others to question if he's the best candidate. (06/30/2006)
Patty Wetterling locked down the DFL endorsement in the 6th District on Saturday, setting up what promises to be a rip-roaring battle for Congress with the GOP's conservative candidate, Michele Bachmann. (05/13/2006)
Democrats in the 6th Congressional District will meet Saturday in Monticello to endorse a candidate for the U.S. House. (05/12/2006)
Patty Wetterling and Elwyn Tinklenberg both want to grab Mark Kennedy's House seat for the Democratic Party. They make their cases to the voters in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District. (Midday, 05/10/2006)
If elected, Keith Ellison would be the first African American congressman in Minnesota history. But the endorsement doesn't guarantee that he'll be DFLer on the November ballot because several Democrats say they'll run in a September primary. (05/06/2006)
Bachmann easily won the endorsement contest Saturday in Monticello and is looking ahead to the November election. Her three challengers say they are sticking to their pledge not to run in a primary. (05/06/2006)
Rep. Mark Kennedy has set his sights on the U.S. Senate, and there is a heated race underway for the Republican endorsement to take his place in Congress. (Midday, 05/03/2006)
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