Fred Karger

Fred S. Karger (born January 31, 1950) is an American political consultant, gay rights activist and watchdog, former actor, and former candidate for the Republican nomination for the 2012 US Presidential election. His unsuccessful run for the 2012 Republican nomination for President made him America’s first openly gay presidential candidate from either major political party. Although he has not held elected or public office, Karger has worked on nine presidential campaigns and served as a senior consultant to the campaigns of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Gerald Ford. Karger was a partner at the Dolphin Group, a California campaign consulting firm. He retired after 27 years and has since worked as an activist on gay rights causes, from protecting the gay bar The Boom to using his organization Californians Against Hate to investigate The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the National Organization for Marriage's campaigns to repeal the state's same-sex marriage law. His running for the Republican nomination for president made him the first openly gay presidential candidate from a major political party in American history.

Michele Bachmann

Michele Marie Bachmann (/ˈbɑːkmən/; née Amble; April 6, 1956) is an American politician. A Republican, she is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, who represented Minnesota's 6th congressional district, a post she held from 2007 to 2015. The district includes several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, as well as St. Cloud.

She was a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, winning the Ames Straw Poll in August 2011 but dropping out in January 2012 after finishing in sixth place in the Iowa caucuses. Bachmann previously served in the Minnesota State Senate and is the first Republican woman to represent the state in Congress. She is a supporter of the Tea Party movement and a founder of the House Tea Party Caucus.

Early life, education, and early career

Bachmann was born Michele Marie Amble in Waterloo, Iowa, "into a family of Norwegian Lutheran Democrats"; her family moved from Iowa to Minnesota when she was 13 years old. After her parents divorced, Bachmann's father, David John Amble, moved to California, and Bachmann was raised by her mother, Arlene Jean (née Johnson), who worked at the First National Bank in Anoka, Minnesota. Her mother remarried when Bachmann was a teenager; the new marriage resulted in a family with nine children.

Michele Bachmann presidential campaign, 2012

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota began a campaign for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for president of the United States in June 2011. Bachmann announced she was running for president during the CNN Republican primary debate held June 13, 2011, and made her formal announcement two weeks later in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa.

She suspended her campaign on January 4, 2012, after coming in sixth at the 2012 Iowa caucus elections.

Background

In early 2011, the media speculated about Bachmann's potential run for president. The New Republic called her "a serious contender for 2012." Her visit planned for January 21 to the state of Iowa, which holds the first caucuses of the season, raised suspicions after several aides hinted that she would make a bid for the White House.

Iowans for Tax Relief

In the midst of much speculation about a run for the presidency, Bachmann visited Iowa on January 21, 2011, to address the conservative group Iowans for Tax Relief. Bachmann said, "There's been no decision about candidacy, but I want to be a part of the conversation." Bachmann, born in Iowa and close friend to U.S. Representative Steve King, declared her happiness that Iowans would be the first to weigh in on the candidates: "I'm so excited. Because I feel like I know you. Because I was born here. I was raised here. These are my values. I feel like we understand each other and I trust you to make that decision. But I also charge you with that decision today."