Michele Bachmann will not run for Senate

Former Republican congresswoman Michele Bachmann said on a radio program Saturday that she will not run for the Senate in 2018.

Appearing on "Understanding the Times Radio" with Jan Markell, Bachmann said she prayed and did not receive a message from God to run: "I took it to the Lord in a very quiet way," she said. "I tried to have my ears open and hear what God was saying to me, and I considered it for quite a long time. It became very clear to me that I wasn't hearing any call from God to do this."

Bachmann served four terms in Congress for the Sixth Congressional District, from 2007 to 2014, and was an unsuccessful GOP candidate for president in 2012. She is admired by Christian conservative activists, is a strong supporter of President Trump and remains one of Minnesota's most well-known Republicans.

A Bachmann candidacy against newly appointed DFL Sen. Tina Smith would have turned the race into an overnight sensation. Smith was formerly an executive at Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota.

State Sen. Karin Housley is the only major Republican candidate to have declared against Smith.

Bachmann was in the news recently when a website called thegoodlordabove.com put up a billboard in St. Paul purporting to be a message from God telling Bachmann not to run.

J. Patrick Coolican • 651-925-5042