Michele Bachmann Retirement: A Blessing For the GOP?

Six months after being re-elected to the 6th congressional district in Minnesota, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has announced that she will not be seeking re-election for her seat in 2014. While the last campaign was the most difficult Bachmann has faced since she was first elected in 2006, Bachmann has asserted that this decision has nothing to do with concerns about re-election.

“Be assured,” says Bachmann in a video she released Wednesday morning with the announcement, “My decision was not in any way influenced by any concerns about my being reelected to Congress … I have every confidence that if I ran, I would again defeat the individual who I defeated last year, who recently announced he is once again running."

Moreover, Bachmann has asserted that this decision has nothing to do with the ethical inquiries into the fund-raising activities of her campaign. The Office of Congressional Ethics is currently following claims by her former campaign aides that Bachmann may have improperly used funds raised by one of her House-affiliated political action committees to assist her presidential efforts in January 2012.

“Rest assured, this decision was not impacted in any way by the recent inquiries into the activities of my former presidential campaign or my former presidential staff,” Bachmann says in the video. “It was clearly understood that compliance with all rules and regulations was an absolute necessity for my presidential campaign, and I have no reason to believe that that was not the case.”

Bachmann also emphasizes in her video the importance of maintaining the Republican seat of the 6th congressional district of Minnesota in order to get our nation back on the path to greatness as her reasoning for running in 2012 for the seat, and her hopes of a Republican majority not only in the House but in the Senate as well in the future. This raises the question of who will run to replace her in 2014.

Jim Graves, who ran on the Democratic ticket against Bachmann in 2012, has announced he will be running again in 2014. However, potential Republican candidates seeking the seat could be Minnesota State Representatives Tim Sanders and Matt Dean, as well as State Senators Michelle Fischbach, and St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis.

What do you think about Michele Bachmann’s decision? How do you think it’ll affect the Republican Party, or the outcome of the campaign for her seat in Congress? Comment below to share your thoughts!