Fritz Knaak remembers tripling his billings at his law firm in 1992, the year the Republican state senator from White Bear Lake decided to retire from politics.

Close on the heels of Tuesday’s election, members of the new DFL House and Senate majorities gathered behind closed doors on Thursday to elect their leaders. As expected, the minority leaders who helped steer Democrats back into control — Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, and Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook — were elevated to House speaker and Senate majority leader.

Leaders from all four legislative caucuses are spending the waning days of the 2012 campaign barnstorming key districts around the state.

Senate President Michelle Fischbach has set a campaign schedule that’s heavy on greater Minnesota districts in the days leading up to next Tuesday’s general election.

Senate District 22 covers a sprawling nine-county swath of southwestern Minnesota that borders both South Dakota and Iowa. Partisans on both sides agree that the district is staunchly conservative.

GOP legislators began sounding the constitutional amendment drumbeat even before the start of Session 2012.

The bill emerged largely as introduced Wednesday, except for a nominal amount of funds for a Mankato civic center, which supporters added as a placeholder Thursday morning.

House and Senate races across the state are rapidly shaking out after the release of the 2012 legislative map last month. And with local endorsing conventions set to take place throughout March, incumbents and challengers alike have little time to make decisions about their political futures.

House and Senate races across the state are rapidly shaking out following the release of new legislative maps.

The complaint filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings says Senate Republicans used public funds to print partisan literature that was distributed at Republican precinct caucuses last week. State law prohibits using taxpayer money for any campaign purposes.