It’s not too early to start campaigning for the Minnesota House. Case in point: One suburban seat already has three candidates jostling to go to the Legislature after next fall’s election. House District 53B covers part of the city of Woodbury in the southeastern suburbs, and its current representative, Republican Andrea Kieffer, recently decided she would not seek re-election next year.

The election of Steve Green marks one of the few bright spots for the Republican Party of Minnesota from the 2012 legislative elections. Facing a fundraising disparity and an uphill battle in terms of name recognition, Green managed to defeat former DFL Rep. Brita Sailer for the open seat in House District 2B.

Minnesota’s 2012 Democratic legislative campaigns started about two years ago. The exact date depends on who you ask.

GOP-aligned independent groups have rushed to fill the campaign spending gap that Republicans face in their battle for continued control of the Minnesota Legislature.

House District 2A is not campaign turf for the faint-hearted. A diffuse region made up of 100 far-flung communities, the district is roughly the size of Connecticut, albeit with about one-90th the population.

Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton managed to draw a large crowd to a restaurant in downtown Minneapolis just ahead of the annual Twin Cities Pride Festival. The purpose was to raise money for Minnesotans United for All Families, the main campaign in opposition to a proposed ballot initiative.

State Rep. Mike Beard barely survived a GOP endorsement challenge on Saturday in House District 55A. Beard faced a backlash for his support for retention elections of judicial contests. There were also DFL conventions in Districts 2 and 4.

It was one of those votes no one wanted to take. The state’s new maps dropped DFL senators and allies John Marty and Mary Jo McGuire into Senate District 66, forcing activists in the area to pick between them at a recent endorsing convention.

Republicans pummeled DFLers in the suburbs and greater Minnesota on Tuesday night to take control of both chambers of the Legislature for the first time since the modern partisan era started in the early 1970s.

The power divide between DFLers and Republicans in the Minnesota House may look daunting on its face, but not so long ago the GOP held a similarly imposing majority.