Amid a summer of choreographed campaign roll-outs for the governor’s office and Congress, a number of candidates are quietly preparing for next year’s legislative election, when the House DFL Caucus will look to defend its majority.

Close on the heels of Tuesday’s election, members of the new DFL House and Senate majorities gathered behind closed doors on Thursday to elect their leaders. As expected, the minority leaders who helped steer Democrats back into control — Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, and Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook — were elevated to House speaker and Senate majority leader.

Leaders from all four legislative caucuses are spending the waning days of the 2012 campaign barnstorming key districts around the state.

Senate President Michelle Fischbach has set a campaign schedule that’s heavy on greater Minnesota districts in the days leading up to next Tuesday’s general election.

GOP-aligned independent groups have rushed to fill the campaign spending gap that Republicans face in their battle for continued control of the Minnesota Legislature.

Senate Districts 2 and 4 in northwest Minnesota form a band that stretches from Moorhead to the Northwest Angle on the Canadian border. Along that path lie a few legislative races that figure to have an impact on the larger partisan tussle for control of the state House and Senate.

In football, you ride in a parade to celebrate your victory. In politics, you clamber on to the flatbed of that trussed-up truck over and over again and wave to the people as part of a ritual for trying to attain victory.

The Senate District 49 race has resulted in the largest haul so far with more than $100,000 in political contributions. Campaign finance reports have revealed this and a lot more, including some notable financial mismatches as well as challengers bringing in more than incumbents.

Political operatives who have been crunching the numbers and talking to candidates see no shortage of swing districts in this year’s legislative elections. The new redistricting maps have tweaked the partisan complexion of many districts.

When the sun rose on Tuesday, April 17, the slow death of the Minnesota Vikings stadium bill appeared complete at last.