Democrats in Minnesota have been slow to rise to the redistricting fight this time around. During session, DFL caucuses in the Minnesota House and Senate passed on the chance to produce maps to counter a GOP majority proposal that pitted 26 incumbents against one another, the vast majority of them DFLers.

Forgive the mafia reference, but the best descriptor of the role attorney David Lillehaug currently plays in the Minnesota DFL Party is consigliere — a highly trusted adviser, wizened counselor and brass-tacks troubleshooter for those at the levers of power within the organization.

Former Democratic U.S. attorney will advise Dayton on legal matters related to a potential state government shutdown.

When Republicans from around the state flocked to the Ramada Mall of America last Saturday, there appeared to be little question who would win the race to replace Brian Sullivan as Minnesota's man on the Republican National Committee.

Downey, a former government consultant, has become the face of Republicans' move to redesign and reform state operations, a position that has put him in the limelight as ire rises just across the border in Wisconsin over anti-union proposals. Whether he likes it or not, the legislation has dramatically raised his profile in St. Paul.

Rep. Sarah Anderson had been a staffer in the Minnesota House of Representatives for 10 years by 2006. That's when her predecessor in House District 43A, former Rep. Jeff Johnson, decided he'd leave the Legislature to make a run for the attorney general's office.

On the first day of the legislative session on Tuesday, many of the Senate's new Republican committee administrators were still receiving the keys to their offices and waiting for their phones to be set up. But for the most part, the top committee staffers who will help Senate Republicans govern in the majority for the first time since 1972 are hardly strangers to the Capitol.

The key staffers who have plotted the remaking of the Senate Republican Caucus in recent years will be running the show when they take the majority in January. Campaign guru Cullen Sheehan will continue as the caucus's chief of staff. Indefatigable GOP political operative and deputy state party chair Michael Brodkorb will continue in his role as communications director.

It's official: former Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman will not seek the Republican National Committee chairmanship after current chair Michael Steele confirmed that he plans to seek another term.

Bachmann enjoys the support of 36 percent of respondents to the survey, according to the poll. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, was the runner-up with 20 percent and former Sen. Norm Coleman came in third with 14 percent.