The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure board has found that the Republican Party of Minnesota is responsible for nearly $600,000 in debts accrued during the 2010 gubernatorial recount and has fined the party $27,000 and former party Chairman Tony Sutton $3,000 for failure to properly report to the board.

With his legal options in the gubernatorial election recount at a dead end, Republican Tom Emmer conceded the race to DFLer Mark Dayton on Wednesday morning. “Minnesotans have made their choice, by however thin a margin, and we respect that choice,” Emmer said outside his Delano home Wednesday morning. “Today is about closure. I’m honored to have been part of the process.”