Former Blaine Mayor Elwyn Tinklenberg (D) abruptly announced Tuesday that he is dropping out of the race against Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), thereby ending his third bid to win the 6th district seat.

In a statement, Tinklenberg said he was dropping out of the race because the path to defeating Bachmann was “increasingly improbable.— State Senate Assistant Majority Leader Tarryl Clark (D) entered the primary last week, joining a field that already included physician Maureen Reed (D) and Tinklenberg.

After Clark entered the race last week, she immediately became the frontrunner in the primary.

“Now, however, we are faced with the prospect of the next thirteen months being a battle among Democrats,— Tinklenberg said. “In a difficult district during tough financial times we will be spending large amounts of time and money trying to defeat each other rather than defeating Michele Bachmann. That is not a campaign I want to wage nor is it the kind of campaign that strengthens our chances of electing a Democrat next fall.—

Tinklenberg had already announced his full consulting team and was raising money for his campaign.

In 2008, Tinklenberg lost to Bachmann despite a last-minute influx of cash to his campaign after the Congresswoman made controversial comments on a cable news show weeks before the election. Many Democrats looked at Tinklenberg’s inability to close the race despite those advantages as proof that his campaign was not up to par. Tinklenberg also sought the Democratic nomination in the 6th district in 2006, when the seat was open, but he lost out to missing children’s advocate Patty Wetterling (D).

For his 2010 bid, Tinklenberg had raised $55,000 so far, but he had almost $200,000 cash on hand as of June 30. Reed had raised $232,000 by the end of June and had $220,000 in the bank.