Bakk denied that the Senate had deliberately delayed approval of over $500 million worth of tax cut.

The campaign said Zellers had "far out-raised candidates not dependent on their personal wealth."

Republican candidates and activists filed into the National Sports Center in Blaine on Saturday to participate in a preliminary straw poll of candidates in the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races. Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson won the gubernatorial poll with 35 percent of the vote, and state Sen. Julianne Ortman won the U.S. Senate poll with 37 percent of the vote.

Sitting in his St. Paul office overlooking the Minnesota state Capitol, Republican Party of Minnesota Chair Keith Downey says there was a point in his life when, in his “wildest dreams,” he never would have imagined sitting at the helm of a state political party.

The Republican Party of Minnesota may be clawing its way back to relevance. But its problems remain significant enough to land it on Roll Call's list of the most dysfunctional state political parties.

The first Republican to launch a campaign for Minnesota governor in 2014 immediately changed the dynamics for all other candidates who would follow him. In April, Orono businessman Scott Honour became the first candidate openly seeking the office, promising to bring an outsider’s perspective to the job.

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.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Honour has announced a team of GOP operatives for his recently announced campaign. The Wayzata businessman has hired several well-known Minnesota Republicans to work on his 2014 bid.

Former state Rep. Keith Downey easily won a four-way contest for Republican Party chair on Saturday. Downey took 228 votes on the first ballot -- or two thirds of the total cast.

Republicans are mired in an extended losing streak in statewide political contests. Since 2006, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty won re-election with 47 percent of the vote, Republicans have been shut out. That dubious streak reached a nadir of sorts last year, when U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar won re-election by nearly 35 percentage points over GOP challenger Kurt Bills.