The GOP endorsement in the party's Sixth Congressional District race went Saturday to a familiar face.
Tom Emmer, the GOP's 2010 candidate for governor and a former state House member, won the backing in the race to replace the retiring U.S. Rep Michele Bachmann.
Emmer received 76 percent of the vote on the first ballot, the party said Saturday. Bachmann, who is not running again after four terms in Congress, announced the results at the convention in Monticello.
Emmer was seen as a heavy favorite. Anoka County Board Chairwoman Rhonda Sivarajah was the only opponent Saturday. Sivarajah and former GOP state Rep. Phil Krinkie have said they were looking to run in a primary.
Friday night, Bachmann gave the convention's keynote address, saying she was "just going to a different perch." She didn't reveal what she planned to do after her current congressional term ends.
"I served in politics as unto the Lord," Bachmann said. "When I saw the lions in the jungle, I was going to take them on."
STAFF and WIRE REPORTS
