Michele Bachmann

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Michele Bachmann (born April 6 1956) is a State Senator in the U.S. state of Minnesota, representing the Stillwater area. She is a member of the Republican Party. Bachmann entered elected office in 2000 as a state senator when she unseated fellow republican Gary Laidig who held the seat for 18 years. She faced the 10 year incumbent, Jane Krentz, for her first re-election after her district lines were redrawn in 2002 and won that race by 9 percentage points. Bachmann is best known for supporting an amendment that would ban gay marriage and all legal equivalents such as civil unions and domestic partner benefits and for being photographed squatting in the bushes observing a gay rights rally at the state capitol.

While a strong advocate for personal rapid transit, she has consistently been a vocal opponent to the Twin Cities wildly successful light-rail transit^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}. In an effort to cast a bad light on the transit system, she fabricated numbers relating to violations of the honor system on which the Twin Cities' system (and many other LRT systems) relies^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}. Specifically, she claimed an 85% evasion rate. The real number is 2%^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}.

In 2005, Bachmann announced her candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2006 election in Minnesota's 6th District, hoping to succeed current Representative Mark Kennedy. On May 6 2006, after a bruising battle in which Bachmann was found to have misrepresented her Republican opponents' positions, Bachmann was endorsed by the Republican Party of Minnesota and will face child safety advocate Patty Wetterling and the Independence Party's John Binkowski in the general election.

Specific positions include:

Opposes all legal recognition of gay relationships
Favors leaving nuclear attack option on the table in dealing with Iran ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}
Favors personal rapid transit and opposes light rail transit and commuter rail transit
Opposes any minimum wage ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}
Believes teenage workers should pay for the right to work instead of being paid ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}
Supports the teaching of intelligent design creationism in public school science classes ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

The majority of Bachmann's financial support has come from outside the 6th Congressional District that she seeks to represent. Bachmann received fundraising support from Vice President Dick Cheney on June 26 and a visit in early July, 2006 from speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. She will soon be visited by Karl Rove to raise funds for her election.

The Cheney event was held far from the 6th district at the Lake Minnetonka home of William Hawks , a wealthy investor who is threatening to use eminent domain to take Minneapolis Park Board land for a private hydroelectric plant on the Mississippi River.

Michele Bachmann is married, has 5 children and has had over 20 foster children. She has a step-sister who is gay.

Bachmann has a law degree from the Coburn School of Law at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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