BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — A state senator in his first full term is vying to unseat Democratic Rep. Tim Walz in Congress in a district that strips across southern Minnesota.

Republican Mike Parry announced his campaign Friday.

Walz has been a GOP target since knocking off an incumbent in 2006. He survived his toughest contest in 2010 when he defeated a state legislator by 5 percentage points in a four-way race.

Parry came to the Legislature in an early 2010 special election and won a full term that fall. When Republicans won control of the Senate last fall, he became chairman of the State Government Innovations and Veterans Committee. Parry has a background in business and lives in Waseca.

Walz is retired from the Army National Guard.

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