Pat Garofalo holds a press conference and a hearing to warn Minnesotans of potential economic fallout from the new federal “clean power plan."

A House committee on Tuesday gave the nod to a bill that would require alleged domestic abusers to surrender their firearms and ammunition.

DFL U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson finally has a strong Republican challenger in the 1st Congressional District. Today, state Sen. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake, will make his candidacy official, following months of rumors about Westrom's interest in challenging the Democratic incumbent. Westrom is in his first term in the Senate, and won election to the upper chamber in 2012 following seven terms in the House.

Republican legislators and conservative groups filed a lawsuit this week aimed at suspending an online voter registration program that they claim was improperly implemented by Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a DFLer, without legislative approval.

If the lawsuit is successful, the registry system launched in launched in late September would be halted until legislative action is taken.

The GOP advocacy groups leading the effort, Minnesota Majority and the Minnesota Voters Alliance, filed a lawsuit in Ramsey County Court on Monday, alleging Ritchie used unilateral power to install a new online voter registration tool after session ended and without bringing it through the proper legislative channels. They are asking the court to suspend the the tool, which was launched at the end of September, until it can be voted on by lawmakers.

DFL House Speaker Paul Thissen this week created a temporary committee on controlled substances and synthetic drugs that will hold hearings over the interim on drug abuse issues. Rep. Erik Simonson, DFL-Duluth, will chair the committee, which has to present a report to the speaker by the time session starts in February 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.

n the four months since legislative maps were released, political strategists and journalists have been scrutinizing the new House and Senate districts to determine which ones favor Republicans or Democrats and where the key battlegrounds will be in 2012.

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.