Nearly four decades later, Bye is once again chairman of the 8th Congressional District at a time of political tumult. The defeat of 18-term U.S. House fixture Oberstar by Republican Chip Cravaack last year has set off a very familiar scramble for the 2012 DFL nomination.

Bill Richard, who worked for U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar until Jan. 2, joined the administration of Gov. Mark Dayton on Jan. 3. He reports daily to Dayton’s office on actions in Washington that could affect the state. (Staff photo: Peter Bartz-Gallagher)

Dayton set Feb. 15 for the special election to replace him, but the Feb. 1 primary is likely to be the decisive battle in the heavily DFL district that covers Chisholm, Hibbing, Floodwood and Meadowlands.

Here's a rundown of the year's top 10 political stories.

It didn't take long after the election night DFL bloodletting for the pot to begin stirring in the liberal blogosphere.

Ranging in age from 24 to 65, new class presents a varied face

Many Republican frosh have records of local civic service HD 15B: King Banaian King Banaian was surrounded by politics growing up in New Hampshire. The state is inundated with presidential hopefuls every four years, and Banaian was recruited at 15 to put flyers on doors for the George McGovern campaign.

Former Republican U.S. Sen. Rod Grams, who was ousted by DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton in 2000, will serve as interim chief of staff for 8th Congressional District Representative-elect Chip Cravaack.

In many cases, DFLers simply got caught in an undertow in districts that are fundamentally split in their political allegiances; in some, like rural Senate District 16, they handed back control of districts no one had expected them to win in the first place; in others, it appears, they failed to take steps to protect incumbents who faced discernible pockets of Republican opposition.

Chip Cravaack pulled off one of the most stunning political upsets in Minnesota history, knocking off 18-term U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar in the 8th Congressional District. The GOP challenger received 48 percent of the vote, besting the incumbent by nearly 5,000 votes.