Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Loren Solberg

Nov 9, 2012

DFL majorities pick their leaders

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.

Jul 7, 2011

Range DFLer jumps in to challenge freshman Rep. McElfatrick

DFL La Prairie City Council member Joe Gould plans to challenge first-term Republican Rep. Carolyn McElfatrick for her Iron Range House seat next fall.

Mar 2, 2011

GOP rural caucus isn’t out to make big waves in budget negotiations, but may be forced to do so

Rep. Bob Gunther doesn't want the Republican rural caucus he helped form this session to be seen as adversarial to suburban and metro legislators. In his view, the bicameral caucus' main purpose is to educate the large number of rural GOP members of the House and Senate, many of them freshmen, on issues of special concern to outstate members.

Feb 1, 2011

2010 campaign finance reports: State lege races

Today's 2010 campaign finance reports indicate some state legislative races were spendy affairs. We survey some of the marquee races.

Nov 23, 2010

Meet the freshmen: House GOP, part II

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.

Nov 10, 2010

Committee buzz: House GOP tries to juggle geography, seniority

When members of the new House Republican majority met last weekend to pick their top two leaders, they selected a slate dominated by the party's suburban strongholds: Speaker-designate Kurt Zellers of Maple Grove and soon-to-be Majority Leader Matt Dean of Dellwood.

Nov 5, 2010

How the lege was won

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.

Nov 3, 2010

Legislature sees a DFL drubbing for the ages

Republicans pummeled DFLers in the suburbs and greater Minnesota on Tuesday night to take control of both chambers of the Legislature for the first time since the modern partisan era started in the early 1970s.

Nov 3, 2010

November surprise: Top five state Leg upsets

Few political prognosticators believed the Republicans had much chance of winning majorities in both the state House and Senate. But when the electoral smoke cleared early Wednesday morning that's exactly what had occurred. The GOP established a 37-30 majority in the Senate and a 72-62 hold on the House (barring any changes via mandated recounts).

Oct 27, 2010

Republicans in 3B are waging ‘uphill’ battle to defeat Solberg

There's buzz in the Northland that the battle for the 8th Congressional District seat is making state House Ways and Means Chairman Loren Solberg's re-election bid more competitive than in previous election cycles.

Oct 18, 2010

House DFLers say leadership talks can wait

Trolling through the House chamber Monday to get comment on the developing DFL caucus leadership picture was like pulling teeth. Most legislators were focused on the task at hand - passing a flood and tornado relief bill - and wanted to reserve talks of leadership until the general election passed.

Jul 30, 2010

Fight over Minnesota’s early Medicaid option carries into campaigns

Session 2010's tempest over whether to take a federal deal that would have jump-started Minnesota's entry to a new federal Medicaid expansion hasn't subsided. It simply followed legislators out the doors of the Capitol and onto the campaign trail.

Top News

See All Top News

Legal calendar

Click here to see upcoming Minnesota events

Expert Testimony

See All Expert Testimony