Retiring Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., on Tuesday endorsed former state Rep. Tom Emmer as her successor in her soon-to-be former House seat, according to a local report.  

“I will give Tom every measure that I possibly can. Whether it’s fundraising, whether it’s personal help, whatever I can do I’m there more than 100 percent to ensure that Tom Emmer is the next member of the United States Congress,” Bachmann said at a news conference Tuesday, according to Minnesota Public Radio .  

Over the weekend, Emmer received the endorsement of the Republican Party of Minnesota in the Gopher State’s 6th District. He defeated Anoka County Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah and former state Rep. Phil Krinkie to earn the state party’s seal of approval.  

In the past, candidates would heed the state party’s cue and drop out of the contest before the primary.  

Yet as the Republican Party of Minnesota finds itself in debt, without the means to back up the endorsement with financial means, Republican operatives say the endorsement means less this cycle.  

Sivarajah and Krinkie said they will continue on in the contest until the state’s Aug. 12 primary.  Both candidates voiced complaints that the process was too exclusive.  

Whichever Republican emerges from the primary is the heavy favorite in this district, which GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney carried with a 15-point margin in 2012.  

Minnesota’s 6th District is rated a Safe Republican contest by Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call.