GOP Sens. Carla Nelson and Roger Chamberlain have introduced an alternate bill.

At 43, Nguyen said he plans to devote this decade to public service. His first major foray into that realm was a hard-fought loss in an effort to join the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. Undeterred, he decided to aim even higher with his next target, and is now the lone declared Republican candidate to succeed two-term DFL incumbent Mark Ritchie as Secretary of State.

The teachers union counts 70,000 educators among its members.

Nguyen, who serves as chairman of New Asia Partners and Newport Capital, both Minneapolis-based financial services firms, kicked off his campaign for the state's top elections official at a Capitol news conference.

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.

Kalin is the second prominent DFL candidate to cite personal reasons for leaving the contest to replace Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.

State Rep. Steve Simon announced on Tuesday that he's running for Secretary of State. The five-term legislator from Hopkins becomes the third DFLer to join the field.

**UPDATED** Dennis Nguyen is seeking the GOP nomination for Secretary of State. The chairman of Shanghai-based investment firm New Asia Partners expects to make an official announcement in September.

Rachel Larson Bohman wasted no time getting into the race for Minnesota secretary of state. Within an hour of DFL officeholder Mark Ritchie’s Tuesday announcement that he would not seek a third term in 2014, Bohman released a statement putting her name in the ring as a Democrat.