Former U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack, the political newcomer who sent DFL lion Jim Oberstar packing in 2010, is back in the political mix in Minnesota – not to run again for office, but to raise money to defeat the DFLer who beat him. In a fundraising pitch to supporters on Tuesday, Cravaack put his name behind GOP hopeful Stewart Mills, a scion of the retail giant who is running to unseat DFLer Rick Nolan, who is serving in his second stint in Congress.
Cravaack attributed his own loss in 2012 to "a very well-funded Obama Campaign Machine in Minnesota and across the country." He also blamed "liberal special interests."
Although Cravaack may not be the comeback kid, his old mailing list could be a boost to Mills, who is also a newcomer to politics in a northern Minnesota district that has been in DFL hands for decades, minus Cravaack's two-year term.
