Things are heating up in northern Minnesota.
On Sunday morning, Rep. Jim Oberstar lost the endorsement of his district's largest newspaper, the Duluth News Tribune, for the first time in his 30-year career.
The paper gave their nod to Republican Chip Cravaack, who is waging an aggressive campaign to topple the 18-term chairman of the House Transportation Committee.
In their endorsement, the paper praised Oberstar's work for the district, but faulted him for not showing "financial restraint" in Congress.
"Republican Chip Cravaack, represents what Congress, including Minnesota's 8th Congressional District, needs at this critical crossroads in American history," the paper said. "A pro-business, fiscally conservative, former Navy captain, with a master's degree in education, Cravaack has smarts. ... [H]e has specific and promising strategies to pull the nation out of its financial funk."
Oberstar immediately shot back, blaming the endorsement switch on the paper's owners, Forum Communications. "They have dictated this outcome. It is one that fits their philosophy. It does not represent that of the Northland," Oberstar said in a statement.
Worth noting: DNT has endorsed Oberstar twice since Forum bought the paper in 2006.
Oberstar's campaign released two clips reacting to the endorsement. The second clip refers to the fact that the paper's endorsement hearing was held as a public forum last Tuesday:
