Former President Bill Clinton waded into the three-way DFL primary battle in the Eighth Congressional District Friday to endorse Tarryl Clark.

"I am proud to support Tarryl Clark for Congress," Clinton said in a statement released Friday morning by the Clark campaign. "From her work with the Children's Defense Fund and Legal Services' Senior Law Project, to her commitment to coalition building while leading the state's Community Action Partnership, Tarryl's focus for almost 25 years has been improving Minnesota. I am confident she will bring the common sense solutions we need to Washington."

Clinton stumped for Clark during her campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in 2010, and Clark was a supporter of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

But his primary endorsement ignores the DFL's endorsed candidate in the race, Rick Nolan -- who just happend to be the Minnesota spokesman for the Obama campaign. Former Duluth City Council President Jeff Anderson is also vying for the primary win. The winner will challenge first-term Republican incumbent Rep. Chip Cravaack in November.

This wouldn't be the first time the former president had made a primary endorsement that favored a candidate who sided with his wife's campaign over a candidate who favored the opposition. As the Washington Post noted earlier this year: "Clinton has now endorsed in at least six Democratic primaries this year, according to our count. In all six of them, the candidate he's backing supported or was tied to his wife, Hillary Clinton, in the Democratic primary four years ago, and their opponents supported President Obama in that race."

Clinton's spokesman has not yet returned a call for comment.

Clinton's endorsement comes just before he is scheduled to come to Minnesota for the Aug. 4 dedication of the Hubert Humphrey memorial. He will be keynote speaker at the DFL's annual Humphrey-Mondale Dinner.
"I am immensely proud to have President Clinton's endorsement," Clark said in a statement after the announcement.

Clark Endorsement