An unusually large number of legislators and prominent Minnesota politicos are opting to run in county commissioner races across the state.

On Saturday Reps. Glenn Gruenhagen and Ron Shimanski squared off in Hutchinson for the GOP endorsement in House District 18B. On the second ballot Gruenhagen pulled within half a percentage point of crossing the 60 percent threshold required for endorsement.

The restructuring of the caucus and its chairs by a new leadership team is widely expected to produce a decidedly conservative shift on the part of Senate Republicans, who in recent years have built a more centrist track record than their increasingly conservative House colleagues.

While the governor's race may be the marquee feature in this year's campaign season, the large number of swing districts in play at the Minnesota Legislature are the object of lower-profile but no less intense campaign spending machinations by a number of groups.

VOICES of Conservative Women, a new political advocacy group, is honoring eight legislators for their work at the Capitol. The "Voices of Fiscal Conservatism" award winners, all Republicans, are state Reps. Laura Brod (New Prague), Mary Kiffmeyer (Big Lake), Mary Liz Hoiberg (Lakeville), Joyce Peppin (Rogers) and Peggy Scott (Andover), and state Sen. Debbie Johnson (Ham Lake), Amy Koch (Buffalo) and Julianne Ortman (Chanhassen).

Around convention time in the spring, Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, boasted that his caucus would retake the chamber’s majority in November. Considering Senate Republicans’ 38-year stranglehold on minority status, and the 13 seats that his troops will need to gain to make good on the pledge, it amounts to a tall order.

The Voices of Conservative Women political action committee (VOICESPAC), based in Maple Grove, has endorsed eight candidates for the Minnesota state Legislature, three in the Senate and five in the House.

If it’s possible to judge a legislator’s re-election vulnerability solely on the number of challengers that he or she attracts, then Lisa Fobbe, Jim Carlson and Kevin Dahle should probably watch their backs.

The contest for legislative endorsements in the GOP gubernatorial contest remains almost a dead heat. State Rep. Marty Seifert currently claims 16 members of the legislature as supporters, while Rep. Tom Emmer boasts 18 state House and Senate backers.

Eight Minnesota legislative incumbents -- five DFLers and three Republicans -- are facing challenges from members of their own parties this year, not counting six incumbents who have said that they aren't seeking re-election and have fellow party members lining up to succeed them.