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D.C. Dispatches by Derek Wallbank

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    Bachmann, Paulsen increasingly likely to hold their seats, D.C. analyst says

    By Derek Wallbank | Published Thu, Feb 18 2010 9:04 pm

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Reps. Michele Bachmann and Erik Paulsen are increasingly likely to hold on to their seats this November thanks to an increasingly pro-Republican national climate, according to an analysis of House races released today by the Cook Political Report.

    Cook is one of the big three Washington election forecasters, alongside CQ Politics and the Rothenberg Political Report. Cook updated their ratings on 25 races — every one of which benefited Republicans.

    Bachmann is now rated as "Likely" to hold her seat, an upgrade in safety from "Lean". Paulsen was moved to "Solid" from "Likely".

    Jim Oberstar, Collin Peterson, Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum and John Kline are all rated as "Solid" or "Safe" (they mean the same thing) by every major rating firm. Democratic Rep. Tim Walz is the only other Minnesotan in what is viewed as a competitive race — he, like Bachmann is rated "Likely" to hold his seat, a rating that Cook left unchanged.

    Interesting little nugget that bears mention: Cook's House analyst, David Wasserman, wrote that Bachmann would have lost to either of her 2010 challengers, Tarryl Clark and Maureen Reed, had they been running in 2008.

    Note: An earlier version of this post had David Wasserman's first name incorrectly listed as Donald. Sorry about the error, it has now been corrected. -DW

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    minnpost.com/derekwallbank


    Derek Wallbank is MinnPost's Washington, D.C., correspondent, covering Minnesota's congressional delegation and reporting on developments out of Washington that are important to Minnesota readers. After graduating from Michigan State University, he covered Michigan politics for the Gongwer News Service, a publication aimed at political insiders. Later he became a reporter for the Lansing State Journal, writing about education and politics and founding the Journal's respected politics blog. Most recently he was a researcher and reporter with Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C. He can be reached at dwallbank[at]minnpost[dot]com.

    More dispatches by Derek Wallbank