Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann said she will run for re-election no matter what her district looks like when Minnesota's new political boundaries are released Tuesday.
"I'm intending to run for the House of Representatives, and I'm really looking forward to finding out what the maps are," the Sixth District congresswoman said during a visit on Monday to the state Capitol.
The political maps, drawn by a judicial panel, may dramatically change the political leaning of her district and could put her in the same district as another sitting representative.
Bachmann is far from alone in her anticipation. Ever since DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and the Republican-controlled Legislature failed to agree on a redistricting plan, lawmakers have been awaiting the court's maps for both congressional and state legislative districts. The maps will directly affect lawmakers' careers and the strategies of the state's political parties.
The court announced Monday that it would release the maps on Tuesday at 1 p.m. At that moment, legislators will pivot from making laws to examining their own destinies.
"The bills around here will be irrelevant when they see the maps. It will be all the buzz," said former longtime Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, who also was at the Capitol on Monday.
The DFL has spent more than $220,000 in the legal case that will end with Tuesday's maps. A Republican effort called Minnesotans for a Fair Redistricting has brought equal force to the legal fight but is not connected to the party.
For Sen. Barb Goodwin, DFL-Columbia Heights, the maps will decide whether she will try to return to the Capitol.
