ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The political preseason is over and analysts say the gloves are about to come off in a couple of hotly contested congressional races in Minnesota.
District's 1 and 8 have been targeted as places where Republicans and Democrats, respectively, feel they have a chance to steal a seat.
We'll start with a couple of congressional candidates who sailed through the primary and appear to have a strong chance for reelection.
Michele Bachmann takes the GOP in one district with 80 percent of the primary vote and Democrat Keith Ellison grabbed almost 90 percent of the primary vote in the 5th district.
U-S Senator Amy Klobuchar also had a strong showing in the primary snagging almost 91 percent of the vote.
But to the south of the Twin Cities, in District 1, there seems to be a seat up for grabs. And to the north, in District 8, there is also a target on the incumbent's back.
"These are two big races," promised Hamline University Political Science Professor David Schultz.
Longtime GOP member Allen Quist won the Republican primary and he'll challenge Congressman Tim Walz in southern Minnesota.
In the 8th, DFLer Rick Nolan, also well-known, earned enough votes to fight for the Iron Range seat held by Republican Chip Cravaack.
"Expect a lot of money to come in which means a lot of media attention in terms of political advertising on television, which will just reinforce that negativity we often times see," Schultz warned.
With the balance of power in question in the house, millions of dollars from across the country will pour into these two contests. "We are going to see a lot of national attention. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a lot of national campaigners come in, whether it be a Bill Clinton or a Romney, to go through those districts," the professor stated.
Why do the two parties think they can unseat the incumbents? Before Walz grabbed the South, it had been a Republican stronghold and before Cravaack took the northeast, it had been dominated by the DFL. The battle for the nation's house begins in Minnesota, at least in some analysts eyes.
"The number of Democrats versus Republicans is clearly important in terms of how bills get moved and in terms of how work gets done and what gets accomplished," Schultz concluded.
(Copyright 2012 by KARE. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)