Independence Party Chairman Jack Uldrich is resigning his post effective February 13. The party has maintained its major party status since IP Gov. Jesse Ventura left office in 2002.

Tom Horner took a bigger risk than most when he embarked on his run for governor of Minnesota. The former Republican pundit and strategist turned Independence Party candidate alienated many of his old political allies when he switched party affiliation to challenge to GOP candidate Tom Emmer and DFLer Mark Dayton.

The Independence Party's Tom Horner arrived at the Sheraton Ridgedale to a welcome fit for a frontrunner. Supporters mobbed the entrance, jockeying for photos and chanting "Horner, Horner, Horner." The candidate greeted many of them each personally, often by name.

As Minnesota’s Republican Party was giddily tweeting the news that the party had fielded candidates for all 201 seats in the state Legislature for the first time in 30 years, the Independence Party of Minnesota was quietly celebrating its own milestone: 16 candidates for the Legislature in 2010, seven in Senate districts and nine in House districts.

The Independence Party is encouraging former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice James Gilbert to seek the party's nomination for governor. Jack Uldrich, the party's chairman, confirms that he's reached out to Gilbert about a bid for the state's top office.

Jack Uldrich, chair of the Independence Party of Minnesota, expects two candidates to announce next month that they will be seeking the party's endorsement for governor. Although Uldrich wouldn't drop any names, he indicated that the two likely challengers would be in addition to Tom Horner, the veteran Republican strategist who is mulling an Independence Party candidacy.

Congratulations to the new team of independents: Business forecaster and consultant Jack Uldrich has just won the chairmanship of the Independence Party of Minnesota, and ...