Kurt Zellers touts the pragmatism he learned as a North Dakota farm boy, defends his leadership record in the Legislature, and, as befits any Republican girding for an intramural brawl, emphasizes his conservative credentials.

The party nod sets the stage for a four-way primary in August, making for what is expected to become the most hotly contest race for the party’s gubernatorial nomination in decades.

For his encore, Marty Seifert doesn’t want to talk as much about politics. The former Republican House minority leader launched his second bid for the governor’s office on Thursday, more than three years after activists denied him endorsement in the 2010 race. At kickoff events, he highlighted his work with the Avera Marshall Foundation and selling real estate in the years since that failed campaign.

Seifert, who lost the GOP endorsement to run for governor in 2010, announced his campaign for the office in his hometown of Marshall Thursday morning before starting on a 13-city tour that included stops in St. Paul and Mankato. He highlighted his work with the Avera Marshall Foundation in the years since he left the Legislature, while at the same time rolling out a detailed five-point plan to cut back on government bureaucracy and spending, an extension of his work as a Republican lawmaker in St. Paul.

After rising to speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives in the wake of the 2010 election, Rep. Kurt Zellers was stung two years later by his caucus’s demotion to minority status. The Republican from Maple Grove struck an unassuming profile at the Capitol this past spring.

The Republican fields for the 2014 governor and U.S. Senate races continued to expand this week. St. Louis County Board Chair Chris Dahlberg announced he’s running for Senate. And another Northlander, Rob Farnsworth, a special education teacher from Hibbing, got into the governor’s race.

Political newcomer Scott Honour back in April became the first Republican candidate to make official his entry into the race to challenge DFL Gov. Mark Dayton in next year’s general election. He has since been joined by three other GOP challengers, all of whom have served in the Legislature.

Republican candidates Jeff Johnson, a Hennepin County Commissioner, Orono businessman Scott Honour, state Sen. Dave Thompson and former House Speaker Kurt Zellers gathered in front of about 150 Republicans packed into the Mermaid Event Center in Mounds View Thursday night. While the candidates’ positions on issues rarely diverged significantly, each one spent the night testing out campaign slogans, themes and personal tidbits on the GOP crowd.

Capitol Report chatted with Johnson about his message on the stump, which he believes will appeal to the GOP base and more moderate Minnesotans, and how he plans to stand out in a growing field for governor.

The first Republican to launch a campaign for Minnesota governor in 2014 immediately changed the dynamics for all other candidates who would follow him. In April, Orono businessman Scott Honour became the first candidate openly seeking the office, promising to bring an outsider’s perspective to the job.