In the 2002 election that followed Minnesota's last round of redistricting, the three seats that comprise Minnesota legislative District 4 - which includes the city of Bemidji, Cass County and parts of Itasca, Beltrami, Hubbard and Crow Wing counties - were swept by Republicans. Some believed the results were a harbinger of reliable GOP dominance in the area.

Gus Booth is trying to pick a fight with the Internal Revenue Service, but he can't seem to get their attention. In recent years the pastor of Warroad Community Church has repeatedly flouted prohibitions on endorsing political candidates from the pulpit.

Republican state Sen. Geoff Michel has a new campaign ad out this week, one of the first television spots released this election season by a legislative candidate.

Prior to the 2006 elections, the people of Senate District 56, which covers much of Woodbury and north-central Washington County, had an entirely Republican delegation in St. Paul. But when the votes were counted that year, the district's Republicans - two representatives and one senator -had all been swept out of office, victims of a pro-DFL swing that averaged 11 points in each of the area's three legislative races.

During the past week, the former Tom Emmer for Governor campaign chair and Republican Party of Minnesota consultant was buffeted first by news of a drunk driving arrest and later by the disclosure that he and his wife were underwater on their home mortgage and facing foreclosure.

Many Capitol habitués with and without election certificates complain that the committee structure of recent years has created a more frenzied process that stretches legislators too thin and is too hard for lobbyists to follow.

While Democrats nationally are pushing state Sen. Tarryl Clark's bid to take over Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann's seat in the Sixth Congressional District - a long shot by any measure - the DFL Party in Minnesota is working hard to keep the central Minnesota seat she is vacating in blue territory.

State Sen. Jim Vickerman calls himself the most conservative Democrat in Minnesota, and he has a voting record to bolster that claim. The seven-term lawmaker has represented Senate District 22 with a light hand since 1986. The rural area has, with the exception of Vickerman, consistently voted Republican over the last decade.

The surprising retirement of popular, four-term Rep. Laura Brod, R-New Prague, launched what would have been a surefire Republican seat in House District 25A into uncertain territory.

Morrison County Sheriff Michel Wetzel was surprised to get a letter from the Republican Party of Minnesota at his office. He was even more surprised when he saw what they wanted: a slew of law enforcement records on one of the party’s own elected members, state Sen. Paul Koering of Fort Ripley.