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[hastalavistababy]

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http://www.madiaforcongress.com/

This seat opened up due to the surprise retirement of Rep. Jim Ramstad. Nobody saw this coming. Ramstad was popular in his district and not embroiled in any scandals. At 61, he could have been elected another 10 times. Since the district has a PVI of R+1 and Minnesota is trending blue, the Democrats will go all out to pick up this one. In a surprise upset, young Iraq veteran Ashwin Madia won the Democratic nomination over state senator Terri Bonoff. The Republican will be state representative Erik Paulsen (R). This race will be one of the most closely fought in the entire country. Both parties will throw everything they have into this one.
Ashwin Madia's parents moved to America from Mumbai, India. Madia's family, who arrived in the United States impoverished, settled in Plymouth, Minnesota, where he went to Osseo Senior High School. He attended the University of Minnesota, where he became student body president. He then attended New York University School of Law. Madia provided pro bono representation to battered women, disabled children, and immigrants seeking asylum.

Madia then joined the U.S. Marine Corps and completed the Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. His first duty station was Okinawa, Japan, where he served as a prosecutor, defense counsel, and legal advisor to a Marine Corps commander. Madia was one of the first attorneys to successfully defend a fellow Marine from treatment under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.[3]

Madia later served in Iraq from September 2005 to March 2006. While there, he worked in a non-combat role to strengthen Iraq's criminal justice system. This job included working with Iraqi judicial officers, U.S. military and civilian officials, and representatives of the European Union and United Nations, as well as briefing top U.S. generals on the status of the rule of law in the country. In July 2006, Madia finished active duty and returned to Minnesota, where he began to work at a local law firm.

In 1996, Madia was a supporter of Republican Senator Bob Dole in his bid for the White House against president Bill Clinton.[4] In the 2000 presidential race, Madia volunteered for Senator John McCain. Madia was a moderate Republican until 2002, when his positions on social issues and Iraq led him to the Democratic Party. In 2006, Madia volunteered on the DFL campaigns of Grace Baltich, Andy Borene, Senator Satveer Chaudhary, and Wendy Wilde.[5]

Madia was living in the Minnesota's 5th congressional district (Minneapolis, Minnesota), at the time the 3rd Congressional District seat became available. After he announced his run for the 3rd Congressional District seat, he moved back to Plymouth.