Cravaack is bumped to “On the Radar” by NRCC

It has been a good week for Republican congressional candidate Chip Cravaack.

First, an internal poll showed the candidate for the Eighth Congressional District running neck-and-neck with 18-term Democratic incumbent Jim Oberstar. Then former GOP U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich predicted a “great upset” in the race, and the Associated Press came out with a story saying Cravaack was a serious challenger to Oberstar.

On Thursday, the National Republican Congressional Committee also bumped Cravaack to “On the Radar,” the lowest level of its “Young Guns” program, which lends help to Republicans running for Congress.

Cravaack joins Lee Byberg, who is challenging Collin Peterson in the Seventh Congressional District, and state Rep. Randy Demmer, who was bumped up to “Young Guns” recently in his attempt to unseat two-term Democratic incumbent Tim Walz in the First Congressional District.

The NRCC put some dollars behind Demmer’s race this week, reportedly spending about $100,000 on anti-Walz television ads across the southern Minnesota district.