No congresspeople in MN GOV race?

It looks as though Minnesota will avoid any open congressional seats in the aftermath of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s (R) decision not to seek a third term.

Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Tim Walz (D-Minn.) both suggest they won’t be running. It’s also hard to see freshman Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) even being interested, given that he just won his seat six months ago.

Minnesota’s two chairmen – Reps. Collin Peterson (D) and Jim Oberstar (D) – won’t go anywhere, and the state’s other members don’t really seem to fit the statewide profile.

We generally see House members jump at the chance to run in an open governor’s race. Such has been the case this cycle already with Reps. Zach Wamp (R) in Tennessee, Gresham Barrett (R) in South Carolina, Artur Davis (D) in Alabama, Nathan Deal (R) in Georgia, Neil Abercrombie (D) in Hawaii, Pete Hoekstra (R) in Michigan and Mary Fallin (R) in Oklahoma.

That list could also soon include Reps. Peter DeFazio (D) and Greg Walden (R) in Oregon and Rep. Jim Gerlach (R) in Pennsylvania.