Democrats had an outstanding night on Tuesday. They won back control of the Minnesota House and Senate, picked up a congressional seat, and defeated two contentious amendments that most political observers expected to prevail.

The campaign finance reports released last week show that political action committees large and small have been funneling lots of money into legislative races.

When Jeremy Miller walked in the 2010 La Crescent Applefest Parade, his interactions with voters led to a lot of questions. “Who are you?” they asked. And: “You’re running for what?” And: “Are you even old enough?”

When so-called right-to-work legislation came up for a floor vote in March, Sen. Jeremy Miller was the only Republican to vote against the proposal. Although it was merely a procedural vote to send the proposed constitutional amendment to a different committee, organized labor was grateful for the freshman legislator’s public opposition.

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49 announced that it's backing 16 GOP incumbents and 10 DFL incumbents in its first round of endorsements. The list is noteworthy because of its bipartisan mix, which is rare for most labor unions.

Matt Schmit has filed to run in Red Wing's Senate District 28. Jack Krage will run in Winona's Senate District 31.

Jack Krage, who has worked as a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker for more than 25 years, announced his run for the southwestern Senate district on Wednesday.