When congressional candidate Paula Overby first announced her intention to run for the Second District seat last year, she said she did not want her gender identity to become a focal point of her campaign.

Less than a month from November's election, the Independence Party says that has changed. Overby has learned that her experience and journey as a transgender woman has influenced her political views, fueling a particular distrust of a two-party system.

"My views are definitely informed by my transgender identity," she said. "The whole idea of a binary process [in politics] … it's really not a realistic model. It does create this polarization we see in our political process."

Overby, 60, a quality assurance analyst from Eagan, is believed to be Minnesota's first openly transgender candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. Born in Redwood Falls, she graduated from high school in New Hampshire before returning to Minnesota for college.

She is running against Republican incumbent John Kline, a six-term congressman, and DFL challenger Mike Obermueller.

A political rookie, Overby has conducted a largely grass-roots campaign, aiming to reach voters directly in her district. She had to gather 1,000 signatures to qualify for the primary ballot.

Overby has raised just $5,310, according to federal campaign finance data, a sum eclipsed by the cash totals of her opponents. Kline, for instance, has raised more than $2 million and has $1.6 million in cash on hand. Overby also lacks the backing of prominent gay and lesbian political groups, such as the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which works to elect LGBT politicians.

But the candidate said she isn't deterred, focused instead on sharing her views on student loan debt relief and social justice issues. But she said she is running primarily to offer voters another option at the ballot box.

"I'm not running the kind of campaign that Democrats and Republicans run," she said. "They have an established voter base, an established financial flow and donors. It's really based on money and their candidates are chosen by Washington. I'm running as an independent."

Overby, who began transitioning to female in 2012, said her candidacy is drawing attention to issues affecting minority groups, such as African-Americans and members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

"Transgender people … we see the gender inequality, we see racial injustice," she said. "We have a government in Washington that's still living in the '50s."

Overby recently released an advertisement in which she touted her rural roots. In the ad, shot on a farm, Overby, decked out in Western wear, rides in on a horse. She proclaims the Second District to be "Paula Country."

As the election date gets closer, Overby said the campaign has "been an enormous learning experience." Whether she wins or loses, she said, her run for office will have been worthwhile.

"I'm challenging our political process," Overby said.

Ricardo Lopez • 651-925-5044