Michele Bachmann's Seat in Peril As House Race Tightens

Source: ABC

Less than a year ago, Rep. Michele Bachmann was traveling the country, making her case to be the Republican Party's presidential nominee. Today, six weeks out from that long-awaited election, she's caught in an unexpectedly tight race to keep her seat in Congress.

Bachmann's challenger, Minnesota hotel magnate Jim Graves, 58, entered the fray in early April, quickly rallying state Democrats to his side and, perhaps more importantly, convincing Independence Party leaders and candidates to stay out of the mix, putting as much as 10 percent of the electorate up for grabs.

In two of Bachmann's three races, the vote tally for the Independence candidate has exceeded her margin of victory.

"This district has the most independents in the state," Graves told ABC News. "So we went to the Independence Party and asked, 'Can you guys help us out a little bit?' Well they said, 'We like you, Graves, we'll support you.'"

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/michele-bachmanns-seat-peril-house-race-tightens/story?id=17320034#.UGNHxrJlQts