As a key player in the debate over commissioner salaries, and the role of the state auditor, Rep. Sarah Anderson Anderson was involved in two disputes that effectively bookended the session.

The union endorsed the three Democratic constitutional officers on Wednesday, almost one year ahead of election day. Currently six Republicans are vying to take on Dayton in his bid for a second term, and Otto has a Republican challenger in businessman Randy Gilbert. There are no announced candidates yet to challenge Swanson in 2014.

On Tuesday afternoon, officials from the United Food and Commercial Workers union met at the DFL headquarters in St. Paul with Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk and House Minority Leader Paul Thissen.

The rejection of the new collective bargaining agreement for nearly 28,000 state workers by a House-Senate subcommittee on Thursday is the latest example of the divide between Republicans and DFLers over how to make the state an attractive employer.

When so-called right-to-work legislation came up for a floor vote in March, Sen. Jeremy Miller was the only Republican to vote against the proposal. Although it was merely a procedural vote to send the proposed constitutional amendment to a different committee, organized labor was grateful for the freshman legislator’s public opposition.

Voters are faced with a familiar dilemma in the heart of the Minnesota Iron Range. The unexpected retirement of 26-year DFL Rep. Tom Rukavina at the end of session has left a big hole in DFL-friendly House District 6B, which stretches across cities like Virginia and Eveleth and includes some of the state’s most mining-dependent towns.

The past year has seen polarizing, multimillion-dollar battles over the role and rights of labor unions across the country.

Senate District 59, which encompasses the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota and northeast Minneapolis, is home to one of the most concentrated DFL constituencies in Minnesota.

Thirteen unions representing approximately 43,000 workers are locked in difficult negotiations with the state over health care insurance premiums for the next two years.

With another state budget deficit looming, Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration is planning to go public with ideas to change how government operates. House Republicans have made the most noise this summer and fall about government restructuring with their Reform 2.0 initiative.