Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann has agreed to three debates with her DFL opponent Jim Graves on the week before the Nov. 6 election, the St. Cloud Times reports. However, the Graves campaign is pushing the three-term Congresswoman to have more than just three debates. “It frustrates me that Bachmann was willing to give 15 debates during her presidential campaign," Jim Graves said. The first public debate is set for Oct. 30 in St. Cloud.

DFL candidate Jim Graves has released two TV ads targeting his 6th District opponent Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., one of which is critical of the incumbent for her response to the Verso Paper Mill fire and closing.

The first debate between Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and DFL challenger Jim Graves featured sharp exchanges on a variety of topics: the St. Croix Crossing bridge project near Stillwater, Obamacare, and Bachmann's celebrity.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, the polarizing Minnesota Republican and Tea Party favorite, is often in more than her share of headlines. She is generating even more attention in the final sprint to Election Day – and so is her opponent, DFL businessman Jim Graves – as the national media shine a spotlight on Bachmann's tightest race yet.

An internal poll taken by the Democratic challenger shows U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann's lead over Jim Graves has shrunk to two percentage points, which is within the poll's margin of error. The Bachmann campaign says the poll lacks credibility. The Graves camp says it shows fallout from Bachmann's claims about the Muslim Brotherhood and its influence in Washington.

Hotel magnate Jim Graves, the Democratic challenger to Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is worth between $22 million and $111 million, according to financial disclosure forms, but he says he is not going to rely on self-funding his campaign. Bachmann has pounced on her opponent's wealth in an effort to rally her supporters and raise money.

Graves, a businessman in the hospitality industry, is seeking the DFL endorsement in the 6th District in a bid to unseat Bachmann. He'll join St. Cloud lawyer Anne Nolan, who is already in the race.

For the first time in eight years, Minnesota's Independence Party has no candidate running in the Sixth Congressional District race. Democrat Jim Graves says the lack of a third party candidate will help him with moderate voters. But Graves is clearly an underdog in his challenge of incumbent Republican Michele Bachmann.