With Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., deciding to retire in 2015 rather than face a tough road to reelection in the face of accusations of misusing campaign funds, she has not been the fundraising magnet she used to be, records from the first quarter of this year show.

The fiery Bachmann was one of the most prolific fundraisers in Congress, raising almost $15 million in the 2012 cycle. That was more than all but two other House members, Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio and Allen West, R-Fla., a former congressman who, like Bachmann, had a flair for made-for-cable-news invective. Politically, Bachmann hass ...