The announcement signals the state reaching an agreement with Mortenson Construction on a $738 million contract.

In surveying the 2012 campaign cash landscape in Minnesota, it’s not immediately obvious who’s going to help Republican legislators defend their majorities.

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty has retired the debt left over from his failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination, his campaign said Tuesday, officially erasing a burden that at once stood at more than $500,000.

Leaders and activists in the Republican Party of Minnesota haven’t had much time to think about elections lately. In a whirlwind series of events, the party lost its chairman, deputy chairman and secretary/treasurer in the span of three months amid mounting questions about the party’s finances.

Supporting Michele Bachmann’s presidential bid wasn’t necessarily an easy decision for David FitzSimmons. While the three-term Republican congresswoman would seem a natural choice for FitzSimmons, who chairs the Republican Party in her home 6th District, he was squarely in the Ron Paul camp during the 2008 election and worked for his campaign.

During this, his last full week in office, Tim Pawlenty officially turned over some of the relics of his eight years as governor to the Minnesota Historical Society. Among them were an oversized, ersatz "veto pen" and the veto stamps he used to consign DFL-passed bills to oblivion.

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty Chief of Staff Brian McClung has formed a "strategic partnership" with the St. Paul public relations firm and lobbying shop Goff & Howard. McClung will work with the team on a project-by-project basis."

The end of the Pawlenty administration and the change in political control at the state Legislature are already transforming the lobbying world at the state Capitol.

Facing a contest that has typically been labeled by most election analysts and pollsters as a "toss-up," third-party groups are pulling in millions of dollars from donors, national organizations, unions and corporations looking to tip the scale in their preferred candidate's favor. The groups' advertisements and activities have been some of the most visible of this year's campaign season.

Pat Anderson didn't need to worry about winning over the crowd gathered at the University Club in St. Paul on Wednesday evening. Roughly 30 GOP activists and donors were on hand to raise money for her bid for state auditor.