Two Democrats hoping to knock off freshman Republican Rep. Chip Cravaack traveled to Washington this week for candidate training with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Tarryl Clark, who lost to Rep. Michele Bachmann in the Sixth District in 2010, and Jeff Anderson, a Duluth City Councilor, both had the chance to meet with top Democrats at the daylong event on Wednesday.

Clark and Anderson were two of about 40 potential candidates nationally at the DCCC event, Anderson said. They heard presentations by Democratic House leaders and White House aide David Plouffe, among others.

Anderson said he paid his own way to attend.

Clark announced on Sunday she was filing papers to run against Cravaack in the Eighth — a shift from her 2010 race in the Sixth against Bachmann — and had purchased a condo in Duluth. Anderson said he's still weighing whether to run for Congress, a decision he hopes to make by the end of the month.

Anderson said he and Clark spoke briefly at the candidate training.

Cravaack, who upset 18-term Rep. Jim Oberstar in 2010, is considered one of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents for 2012, and national Democrats are already focusing their attention on the Eighth District.

Of course, the Republican redistricting map released Monday has moved Cravaack out of the Eighth District and Duluth, although that map is highly unlikely to become law, as Democrats are opposed to it.