Bachmann Re-Election Run Eased Other Campaign Debt

ST. PAUL (AP) - Michele Bachmann has dramatically reduced what had been a more than $1 million debt from her failed presidential run and she has her congressional re-election effort to thank for it.

New campaign finance reports released Thursday show the Minnesota congresswoman repaid more than $750,000 in presidential campaign debt by transferring it from her congressional account. More than $500,000 of that was shipped over between late October and late November.

Bachmann, a Republican, is one of the most prolific fundraisers in Congress. She narrowly won a fourth term in November over Democrat Jim Graves.

The congressional run was her second 2012 campaign. She waged a brief run for the GOP presidential nomination but dropped out after a poor showing in Iowa's leadoff caucuses.

Her debt now stands at about $170,000.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved)