On paper the open seat in House District 43A should favor the DFL nominee. Partisan indexes suggest the district tilts in their favor by anywhere from 2 to 14 percentage points.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie predicted a low voter turnout for Tuesday's primary election, putting his estimate at around 15 percent participation from eligible voters. As it turns out, the state didn't even reach that number.

Peter Fischer faced a barrage of attack mailings from opponent Bob Hillin the DFL primary in House District 43A. But the DFL-endorsed candidate ultimately prevailed by an 8 percent margin on Tuesday.

Attorney Bob Hill has released a pair of misleading mailings in recent days attacking his opponent, DFL-endorsed candidate Peter Fischer, in the House District 43A contest.

As the state’s late-summer primary date approaches next week, more DFL candidates find themselves in the midst of competitive intra-party contests than Republicans.

House District 43A is an odd creation. It meanders from the border of St. Paul to the northeast and contains at least part of five cities, including Maplewood, White Bear Lake and Mahtomedi.

n the four months since legislative maps were released, political strategists and journalists have been scrutinizing the new House and Senate districts to determine which ones favor Republicans or Democrats and where the key battlegrounds will be in 2012.