Minnesota’s 8th District race between incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack and Democrat Rick Nolan is among the nation's closes House races. It's also among the most expensive – No. 6 on a list of races ranked by spending by outside groups. About $5.6 million has been dumped in the race as of Monday, the Duluth News Tribune reports.

DFL challenger Rick Nolan, rekindling his congressional career 30 years after he last served in the U.S. House, has defeated one-term Rep. Chip Cravaack, R-Minn., in one of the most closely watched and expensive U.S. House races in the nation.

Financial disclosures released by Minnesota's members of Congress show Republican U.S. Reps. Michele Bachmann and Chip Cravaack, as well as Democratic Sen. Al Franken, are all worth more than $1 million. The trio is not alone: A 2011 study by a Washington, D.C.-based research group found nearly half the members of Congress are millionaires.

U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack, R-Minn., is in a showdown with the Obama administration over potential cuts to a program that arms airline pilots as the last line of defense against hijackers. Cravaack, a former pistol-packing pilot, objects to proposed cuts to the Transportation Security Administration program.

U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack says new emissions standards enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency are a threat to Minnesota's mining industry. The rules are aimed at reducing the haze over northeastern Minnesota. Cravaack calls them an assault on jobs and says the federal government should let the state enforce pollution rules.

The first-term Congressman in Minnesota's 8th District is being added to the Republican party's national "Patriot Program." It's designed to give members in highly competitive districts additional fundraising and campaign resources. Former state Rep.Tarryl Clark, former U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan and Jeff Anderson are all seeking the DFL endorsement to challenge Cravaack this fall.

After being swept into office on a tea party tide, Republican Rep. Chip Cravaack is now portraying himself as a middle-of-the-road lawmaker. He is trying to keep his job in a northeastern Minnesota district with a long tradition of electing Democrats.

DFL challenger Rick Nolan in a Duluth debate Tuesday called first-term incumbent Rep. Chip Cravaack, R-Minn., a "big spender" on defense who has neglected domestic issues including transportation, the Star Tribune reports. Cravaack advocated lower taxes and fewer regulations to create jobs, and he said Nolan is symbolic of an "antiquated" style of big government.