MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Republican and tea party favorite Michele Bachmann has beaten Democrat Tarryl Clark in the nation’s most expensive U.S. House race.

Bachmann wins a third term after raising more than $11 million and spending at least $8.8 million.

Her prodigious fundraising paid for months of negative TV ads painting Clark as a tax-and-spender.

Clark raised more than $4 million of her own and got plenty of help from outside the district. But she fell short in her attempt to portray Bachmann as more concerned with her national prospects than with the people of the district.

The 6th is Minnesota’s most conservative district, covering northern Twin Cities suburbs and the St. Cloud area.