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As she seeks to build on her momentum in the nation's first voting state, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is taking to the airwaves in Iowa next week, RCP has learned.

The Bachmann for President campaign has purchased at least $1,000 of TV airtime in Des Moines -- Iowa's largest market -- on the local NBC and Fox affiliates. Bachmann's ad buy may be much larger than that, but RCP did not have information on whether the campaign had purchased time on CBS affiliate KCCI, the most-watched television station in Des Moines.

The initial Bachmann ad buy will run July 10-19. Bachmann aides did not respond to inquiries about the extent of the media purchase.

The tea party favorite will become the second Republican presidential candidate to launch ads in Iowa; former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty did so late last month.

Both Bachmann and Pawlenty have bet heavily on strong showings in the Iowa caucuses early next year and each candidate is competing hard to do well in next month's Ames Straw Poll, which will be a critical test of early support for both White House hopefuls from neighboring Minnesota.

In a Des Moines Register poll conducted late last month, Bachmann trailed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by 1 percent for the lead among likely GOP caucus-goers, while Pawlenty languished far behind in a distant sixth place.