Republicans keep, win Minnesota seats

ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Two Republican seats of the Minnesota delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives appeared to remain Republican after Tuesday's elections.

Incumbent Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann was on her way to keeping her seat in the 6th District, defeating Democrat Elwyn Tinklenberg. With about 85 percent of the precincts reporting, Bachmann held a 47 percent-to-43 percent lead over Tinklenberg, with Independence candidate Bob Anderson pulling in 10 percent, KSTP-TV reported.

In a sometimes messy battle in Minnesota's 3rd District, Republican Erik Paulson, a former state House majority leader, was en route to besting Democrat Ashwin Madia, an Iraq war veteran, to replace the retiring Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad.

KSTP reported Paulson received 48 percent of the vote to Madia's 41 percent, with about 86 percent of the precincts reporting. Independence candidate David Dillon collected 11 percent.