When Republican members of the Legislature return to St. Paul next year and compare notes on what they did during the interim, a growing number will say they launched campaigns for Congress.

St. Peter Democratic Rep. Terry Morrow went unchallenged last fall in his race for House District 19A, but his sudden retirement from the seat in December enticed nearly a dozen candidates to jump into the special election to replace him.

Myron Frans has been making the pitch for about two years now. The Minneapolis tax attorney turned revenue commissioner started his tenure in Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration out on the road, carrying with him a pair of stools to demonstrate the need for comprehensive changes to the state’s tax code.

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 attorney Fritz Knaak was notified of the dismissal in a letter from the board dated Oct. 23, according to documents obtained by rural DFL blogger Sally Jo Sorensen. The senators have accused Ritchie of using his office to speak out against the voter ID constitutional amendment on this fall’s ballot.

Sens. Mike Parry, R-Waseca, and Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson, have filed a complaint with the Office of Administrative Hearings alleging that Secretary of State Mark Ritchie has abused his office by using it to speak out against the voter ID amendment.

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.

A few months ago, nobody thought Sen. Mike Parry could lose a congressional primary to Allen Quist. But he managed.

Allen Quist and Rick Nolan have both been out of elective office for more than two decades. On Tuesday, however, both veteran politicos won their respective congressional primaries, surviving contentious intra-party battles and earning the right to challenge incumbents for a trip to Washington, D.C.

Thursday morning's meeting of the legislative Subcommittee on Employee Relations gave legislators a chance to sound off on the terms of two recently negotiated public sector union contracts -- and, not incidentally, to seize the moment for a bit of political grandstanding.