First-term Rep. Michele Bachmann is getting a financial helping hand in her re-election bid from a Republican Party fund that tries to assist candidates who are seen as vulnerable or specificially in the Democrats' cross-hairs.

Bachmann is one of 10 Republicans who will get assistance from the party's Regain Our Majority Program (ROMP) 2008, which is overseen by House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Also slated to get assistance is state Rep. Erik Paulsen, the only Republican running for the open seat being vacated by longtime Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad.

Ramstad's seat is widely considered to be up for grabs because the district is less reliably Republican than it has been in the past. But Bachmann's inclusion on the ROMP assistance list shows how aggressively Democrats have already gone after her.

And the help, which based on past ROMP spending patterns could reach $100,000, according to a party spokesman, follows the Democrats' decision to specifically target her.

The cash from the ROMP program may be more symbolic than substantive, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Through the end of last year, Bachmann already had raised nearly $1.2 million for her re-election bid, triple the amount raised by her two DFL challengers combined.

By comparison, the GOP's ROMP program had raised just over $1.4 million by the end of 2007 for the current election cycle.

The program was the brainchild of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and originally was called Retain Our Majority Program, before that majority was wiped out by Democratic gains in 2006.

Seven of the 10 recipients of ROMP money are Republican incumbents, one is challenging a Democratic incumbent and two are running in open seats.

Boehner said last week that the GOP would gain ground in this year's elections, citing the drawn-out race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"The longer this goes on, the more disappointed voters there will be," Boehner said at a lunch sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. "Frankly, that's one cause for my optimism."

John Wodele, a spokesman for DFL candidate Elwyn Tinklenberg, said the cash infusion "confirms the fact that Republicans are worried about the Sixth District -- as they should be."

Referring to Bachmann's financial help, Bob Olson, the other DFL candidate, said, "that's fine. We like all the attention ... The more attention she gets nationally, the better."

A spokeswoman for Bachmann did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bob von Sternberg • 612-673-7184