MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Democrat Keith Ellison was elected as the nation's first Muslim member of Congress on Tuesday, easily winning a Minneapolis-area district Republicans had not carried since 1962. He is also Minnesota's first nonwhite representative in Washington.
Two other House races looked close enough to make a difference in Democratic hopes for winning control of Congress.
Republican Rep. Mark Kennedy threw the 6th District seat open by running for Senate. Child-safety advocate Patty Wetterling, a Democrat, trailed Republican state lawmaker Michele Bachmann early in the race. But then Rep. Mark Foley resigned over sexual messages to former teenage House pages, shifting the race to turf that favored Wetterling, whose son Jacob was abducted on a rural road 17 years ago. Wetterling ran what were believed to be the first campaign ads in the nation referring directly to the scandal.
In southern Minnesota, GOP Rep. Gil Gutknecht faced his strongest challenge since his election when Republicans took control of Congress in 1994. He won the Republican-leaning district with nearly 60 percent of the vote two years ago, and has generally supported President Bush's policies in Iraq, though he has called for a partial withdrawal of U.S. troops.
His Democratic challenger, Tim Walz, a retired National Guard command sergeant major, has said the U.S. should focus on rebuilding Iraq, and a pullout if that can't be achieved. Walz, a Mankato teacher, attacked Gutknecht aggressively on Iraq.
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Other Minnesota districts appeared safe for their incumbents.
Republican Rep. John Kline was running against Democratic challenger Coleen Rowley in the southern Twin Cities suburbs. Rowley, a whistleblower who criticized the FBI's pre-Sept. 11 handling of Zacarias Moussaoui, favored a gradual pullout from Iraq. Kline is a retired Marine Corps colonel, serves on the House Armed Services Committee, and has been a vocal supporter of the Bush administration's efforts in Iraq.
Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad won another term representing the western Twin Cities suburbs, defeating Democrat Wendy Wilde, a Twin Cities radio personality.
Rep. Betty McCollum was coasting to a fourth term representing the St. Paul area, a solidly Democratic district. Her Republican challenger was Obi Sium, an Eritrean immigrant and retired DNR engineer.
In western Minnesota's 7th District, conservative Democrat Rep. Collin Peterson was challenged by pharmacist Michael Barrett.
Northeastern Minnesota's 8th District was a battle between two congressional veterans: Longtime Rep. Jim Oberstar, a Democrat first elected in 1974, and former GOP Sen. Rod Grams. Grams was elected to the U.S. House from a different district in 1992 and was elected to the Senate in 1994. But several missteps and a well-financed run by department store heir Mark Dayton bounced Grams from the Senate in 2000.
