Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Tony Sutton is accusing first-term DFL State Auditor Rebecca Otto and her staff of “lavish” spending, but Otto says he should get his facts straight.

Political candidates were out in force this morning at Eagan's annual Fourth of July parade; check out our gallery of images.

The power divide between DFLers and Republicans in the Minnesota House may look daunting on its face, but not so long ago the GOP held a similarly imposing majority.

One of the few things that organizers and delegates to this weekend’s state Republican convention can agree on: The gubernatorial endorsement battle between Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert won’t drag out as long as the 2002 fight between Tim Pawlenty and Brian Sullivan.

Norm Coleman's surprise announcement that he won't be running for governor, combined with Rep. Marty Seifert's (R-Marshall) self-proclaimed status as the front runner in the contest for the GOP endorsement, mean that the guy in the race to watch right now is Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Delano).

Pat Anderson announced today that she's dropping out of the governor's race, opting instead to pursue her former post as state auditor. But the move has prompted renewed speculation about a different politician: Norm Coleman.

Westover takes the helm of Pat Anderson's media operation

Craig Westover, the former conservative blogger and columnist whose picture piloting a sailboat earned him the nickname Captain Fishsticks, is now guiding the media and communications ship at Pat Anderson’s gubernatorial campaign.

One of the most intriguing aspects of AFSCME's endorsement of DFLer Mark Dayton for governor is how it went down. About 150 members of the union's screening committee met with all the DFL candidates - and GOP candidate Pat Anderson - for about 3 and a half hours Saturday afternoon. They were done with the candidates about 4 p.m., and they had their decision shortly after 5 p.m.

For the past month or so, we’ve been featuring interviews with 2010 gubernatorial candidates. What follows are excerpts from four of those conversations.