STORDEN — Mike McFadden leaned his sturdy frame over the front counter of the Shady Drive Inn as the owner aired the same frustrations with political gridlock that some of her regular customers grumble about.

Then she asked the Senate candidate point-blank: “What party are you affiliated with?” McFadden tiptoed into the answer: “Well, I’m an American first,” he said. “But I’m a Republican.”

His comment reflects the delicate challenge facing the GOP in its bid to topple Democratic Sen. Al Franken in November. Republicans in Minnesota have suffered 13 defeats in 14 statewide races over the last decade, often after nominating staunchly conservative candidates.

So McFadden is embracing a lot of ideas that many fellow Republicans are fighting fervently to kill. He supports an immigration overhaul with a path to citizenship. He says President Barack Obama’s health care law must go, but he wants a replacement that replicates some of its goals.

The former investment banker also opposed last fall’s federal government shutdown and often laments “extreme partisanship.” He’s even gone so far as to cast himself as “a right-center Amy Klobuchar,” a reference to Minnesota’s popular two-term Democratic senator known for working across the aisle.

Democrats are already scrutinizing McFadden’s investment banking background in the same way the national party took on Mitt Romney’s past business dealings in 2012. And they’ve pounced on his nuanced reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision that lets companies deny contraception coverage on religious grounds, a ruling he praised while calling for over-the-counter birth control.

Franken’s razor-thin victory in 2008 makes him a tantalizing target in the GOP’s efforts to gain the six seats needed to take control of the Senate.

For now, Franken has escaped the barrage of negative ads aired by outside groups that have put red-state Democratic incumbents under siege, including Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu, Arkansas’ Mark Pryor and North Carolina’s Kay Hagan.

Franken’s own television ads — more than $100,000 worth per week since early May — feature the incumbent or citizens he’s helped talking matter-of-factly about his efforts to connect factories with skilled workers, regulate compound pharmacies or tighten Wall Street lending practices.

“When I get back to Washington, I’m going to keep working to do even more, and that’s the job. It’s not about winning an argument. It’s not about proving a point. It’s not about getting on TV,” Franken said while accepting his party’s backing for another term.