Rep. Nick Zerwas, R-Elk River, and Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, both hope to focus on listening.

Zerwas said Lucero "burned a lot of bridges with his techniques and his approach."

The news drew a positive reaction from Gov. Mark Dayton.

Rep. Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, one of the GOP candidates hoping to challenge Dayton next year, has led the charge on the issue.

Dayton has asked Department of Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson to suspend any provisional releases from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program until a special task force and legislators can address concerns about the constitutionality of potentially locking up offenders for life.

Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter rejected calls from American Indian activists who were pushing for the delay of bond sales on the new Minnesota Vikings stadium, the Star Tribune reports. The activists are trying to get assurances that the word "Redskins," the' nickname for the Washington, D.C. NFL team, will not be displayed inside the stadium.

**UPDATED** GOP Reps. Brian Johnson and Nick Zerwas are raising concerns about plans to transfer six civilly committed sex offenders to a facility in Cambridge. In a letter to Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson, the legislators questioned whether the plan will endanger the public.

After rising to speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives in the wake of the 2010 election, Rep. Kurt Zellers was stung two years later by his caucus’s demotion to minority status. The Republican from Maple Grove struck an unassuming profile at the Capitol this past spring.

Zellers announced his plans to seek the office on a sunny Sunday in Maple Grove, surrounded by supporters. In launching his run, the six-term GOP lawmaker railed on the governor and DFL majorities for passing $2 billion in new tax increases this year.

When Rep. Tina Liebling’s bill proposing substantive changes to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) came up for a committee hearing last month, she pleaded with legislators not to turn it into a political mallet.