January 12, 2012 | 7:30 am

Karger exults in beating Bachmann

Posted by Jonah Lowenfeld

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Republican presidential hopeful Fred Karger. Photo by Jonah Lowenfeld

Fred Karger, the Jewish and openly gay Republican Presidential hopeful, celebrated his finishing ahead of Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann in the January 10 New Hampshire primary.

Karger, whose outsider candidacy was the subject of an article in the Jewish Journal in December, finished eighth in New Hampshire, with 485 votes, ahead of Bachmann, who came in ninth with 350 votes.

That Bachmann had had dropped out of the race before the New Hampshire vote, on Jan. 4, after she finished sixth in the Iowa Caucuses didn’t mute Karger’s joy at the result.

“Congresswoman Bachmann was in 12 national debates, raised $10 to $12 million, received massive news coverage, has huge name ID and we beat her in New Hampshire,” Karger said in a statement.

Karger, whose campaign is mostly self-financed, has been excluded from all of the many Republican candidate debates, including the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Presidential Candidates Forum in December. He is the first Republican Jewish candidate to be on a presidential ballot.

Karger took special pride in beating Bachmann, who is known for her frequent comments about the dangers of homosexuality. “Early last month I said that I wanted to beat [Rick] Santorum or Bachmann in New Hampshire,” Karger said in the statement. “It’s a big win for me.”

Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania and an outspoken opponent of gay rights, came in fourth in New Hampshire, with 23,408 votes.