“I cannot keep my name as a leader of a party that I do not believe is the best option for the voters of this state,” wrote IP state director Kyle Lewis.

Lawmakers finished out the 2014 legislative session Friday evening with the passage of three major finance and spending bills and a restrictive medical marijuana proposal. Those four pieces were seen as the last major measures to pass this year.

The Independence Party of Minnesota plans to take the state to court if the school-aid shift isn’t paid off by Dec. 1. IP Chairman Mark Jenkins has scheduled a state Capitol press conference on Thursday to announce his legal plans.

IP delegates did not endorse a candidate to run against incumbent DFL U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar at their party convention in Roseville this weekend. Two candidates --accountant Glen Menze and farmer Stephen Williams -- vied for the party's backing but fell short. The candidates will likely head to an August primary election for the IP slot on the ballot.

The redistricting maps that were drawn by a panel of judges last winter significantly altered the area immediately southwest of Duluth. Eight-term incumbent Rep. Bill Hilty, DFL-Finlayson, was carved out of the new district that contained a lot of his old turf and he opted not to seek re-election.

The Independence Party's joining of Minnesotans United for All Families is the latest sign the group will comprise a broad swath politically active groups.

Mark Jenkins knows how hard it is to win a legislative election as an Independence Party candidate: He ran last fall in Senate District 55 against DFL incumbent Sen. Chuck Wiger, earning just a little over 7 percent of the total votes in the North St. Paul and Maplewood district.

Chaudhary's primary loss made him the body's fifth departing chair

As Minnesota’s Republican Party was giddily tweeting the news that the party had fielded candidates for all 201 seats in the state Legislature for the first time in 30 years, the Independence Party of Minnesota was quietly celebrating its own milestone: 16 candidates for the Legislature in 2010, seven in Senate districts and nine in House districts.

Main Story: Bring on the challengers • House District 8B: Rudy Takala, a Republican from Pine City, is challenging second-term Rep. Tim Faust, DFL-Hinckley. • ...