ST. PAUL — Ex-judge and former Minnesota first lady Mary Pawlenty is weighing a run for Congress in a district that won’t have an incumbent on the 2016 ballot, The Associated Press learned Saturday.

A person with knowledge of her consideration told AP that the wife of former Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty hasn’t set a timetable for deciding. The person insisted on anonymity to disclose private conversations.

Pawlenty would start with broad name recognition and could tap a donor base from her husband’s gubernatorial and presidential campaigns. After an unsuccessful 2012 bid for the White House, Tim Pawlenty now heads a financial industry lobbying association and commutes weekly between Minnesota and Washington.

She declined an interview request.

Pawlenty, who has also been a mediator and worked for a medical nonprofit, lives in Eagan. The judgeship she held for more than a decade covered territory overlapping with much of the politically competitive 2nd Congressional District, which GOP Rep. John Kline represents. He announced this week he won’t seek an eighth term.