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MARK ZDECHLIK: So far, Fifth District Congressman-elect Keith Ellison is attracting the most attention of the new batch of Minnesota politicians in Washington. Ellison, a liberal Democrat, is the first Muslim to serve in Congress that's garnered worldwide attention. Staffers say they're fielding several dozen news reporter calls a day, in their words, from Ghana to Northfield.

Ellison's decision to take his ceremonial swearing in on the Koran, and not the Bible, has attracted a great deal of attention. But he backs away from the debate over that. In an apparent effort to downplay his religious background, Ellison says, at least initially, he will try to be as ordinary as he can in Congress.

KEITH ELLISON: I think we need to start fast and really do some real good things for the American people to set our country on a path that puts the public good and the public interest right in the center of our policy focus, as opposed to what's good for the lobbyists and the privileged few.

MARK ZDECHLIK: Apart from his call to immediately begin withdrawing troops from Iraq, Ellison is focusing on a domestic agenda. Like many Democrats, Ellison is talking about increasing the minimum wage, addressing shortcomings with the Medicare drug plan, and clamping down on ethics problems. He's also talking about providing every American with health care.

KEITH ELLISON: The Democrats-- and I'm proud to be one. But the Democrats got to deliver for the American people, and it can't take too long. I mean, we've got to prove that a party that puts the public interest up front is one that's best for the American people.

MARK ZDECHLIK: DFLer Tim Walz also attracted attention but not for his religion. Walz unseated Republican Congressman Gil Gutknecht in Southern Minnesota's traditionally conservative First District. Like Ellison, Walz is on board with the so-called 100-hour agenda the new Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has been promoting.

TIM WALZ: I'm a cosponsor on the minimum wage bill. It's something I'm going to be very proud of. We're going to lower student loan interest rates, make it more affordable, about $6,000 per student right off the bat. We're going to make things fair for the average American. So I'm very excited about it. And I think anything less than that very aggressive agenda in the beginning would be wrong.

MARK ZDECHLIK: On the other end of the political spectrum is conservative Republican representative-elect Michele Bachmann. Bachmann is from the Sixth District, which is comprised largely of suburban and exurban areas of the Twin Cities.

MICHELE BACHMANN: There's a tremendous difference, a divide between myself and Walz and Ellison.

MARK ZDECHLIK: As a state senator, Bachmann led the charge against gay marriage and was a vocal opponent of legalized abortion. But asked what she wants to accomplish in Washington, Bachmann didn't mention any social issues and instead emphasized her belief that the tax cuts should remain in place and that taxes could be cut even further.

MICHELE BACHMANN: I have worked my entire life to cut taxes. And when I was in the Minnesota State Senate, I was the chief sponsor of the taxpayer's bill of rights, which would try and limit government spending. That's what I want to bring here.

MARK ZDECHLIK: It's no surprise a Republican like Bachmann won the support of the majority of voters in her conservative district, nor was it any shock that a liberal Democrat, like Ellison, wound up the victor in the Fifth District. The Fifth is made up of Minneapolis and some surrounding areas, and it's long been a DFL stronghold.

What does come as something of a surprise, according to political analyst Stephen Smith from Washington University, is that Democrats were able to take back the First District. Smith says, following the last round of redistricting, the expectation had been that the state house delegation would be evenly split-- four Republicans and four Democrats. But Walz's victory threw the advantage back to the DFL.

STEPHEN SMITH: It brought the balance in the delegation back in favor of the Democrats. At just the time, the Democrats were regaining a majority in the House. And so Minnesota's interests really were served by that because Minnesota's delegation will be more powerful than it would have been if it had been more Republican.

MARK ZDECHLIK: And Smith says it's no surprise Minnesota voters are sending such a diverse group to Washington. It's a reflection, Smith says, of how competitive the state is between Republicans and Democrats and how differently voters from region to region in Minnesota view politics. In Washington, this is Mark Zdechlik, Minnesota Public Radio News.