Voters to weigh in on Walz opponent, Franken

As the dust settles in the Twin Cities after the Republican National Convention, candidates in several Tuesday primaries hope to kick it back up again.

In the state’s 1st congressional district, two Republicans are competing to win the right to take on first-term Rep. Tim Walz (D), who began the cycle as a top GOP target.

{mosads}Mayo Clinic physician Brian Davis won the endorsement of the state Republican Party, but state Sen. Dick Day is challenging him in the primary.

Davis has raised twice as much in the campaign to date and raised more than five times as much than Day in July and August.

Walz is a freshman congressman who knocked off six-term Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R) during Democrats’ 2006 romp.

In the state’s Senate race, comedian Al Franken will face a test in Tuesday’s Democratic primary that will help gauge how big of a threat he will be this fall to Sen. Norm Coleman (R).

Franken, the endorsed candidate of the state Democratic Party, has ridden a bumpy road during the race. He has attracted a variety of challengers throughout the primary as well as negative press surrounding a sexually explicit article he wrote for Playboy magazine in 2000.

Though Franken has overwhelmingly outraised attorney Priscilla Lord Faris, he was unable to get over 50 percent in a mid-August primary poll conducted by Minnesota Public Radio and the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute.

Franken led Lord Faris 45-22, with 9 percent supporting others and 25 percent undecided.

The poll showed a virtual dead heat between Franken and Coleman in the general election, though, reflecting the “toss-up” label that most pundits have attached to the race.