— Sixteen Term Incumbent Jim Oberstar

Jim Oberstar

James Louis "Jim" Oberstar is a former U.S. Representative who served in the U.S. Congress from 1975 until 2011 as a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. He represented northeastern , which included the cities of Duluth, Brainerd, Grand Rapids, International Falls, and Hibbing...

 (Democrat) had little trouble for re-election ever since he won his first term, and while the district had been relatively safe

Safe seat

A safe seat is a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, either by a certain political party, the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both...

 and hadn't had a Republican represent it since 1947, Oberstar faced a potential challenge from former Republican U.S. Senator Rod Grams

Rod Grams

Rodney Dwight "Rod" Grams served the state of Minnesota in both the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.- Early life :...

 and centrist/moderate candidate Harry Welty

Harry Welty

'— Sixteen Term Incumbent Jim Oberstar had little trouble for re-election ever since he won his first term, and while the district had been relatively safe and hadn't had a Republican represent it since 1947, Oberstar faced a potential challenge from former Republican U.S...

.

The election was basically unmemorable and insignificant (it had a CQPolitics rating: Safe Democratic that was accurate) except that Harry Welty ran as an independent (under a "Unity" banner) after being inspired by the Unity08

Unity08

Unity08 was an American political reform movement that sought to offer all voters an opportunity to directly engage in politics by ranking the most crucial issues facing the country, discussing them with the candidates and engaging in an online, secure vote to nominate a bipartisan alternative to...

political movement, , would made him the first politician to throw his allegiance to the movement in an actual election.

Result

Oberstar won with 64% of the vote.