Karin Housley’s route into Minnesota politics has been anything but typical. In 2010, the real estate agent and wife of NHL hall of famer Phil Housley ran a close race against incumbent DFL Sen. Katie Sieben in Senate District 57, losing by only 606 votes.

It’s not hard to see why campaign operatives from both political parties have had Minnesota’s newly drawn Senate District 53 on their radar since day one.

Near-miss 2010 GOP challenger Karin Housley mounts primary bid for retiree Vandeveer’s seat

House District 43A is an odd creation. It meanders from the border of St. Paul to the northeast and contains at least part of five cities, including Maplewood, White Bear Lake and Mahtomedi.

It’s not uncommon for a legislator or two to announce their retirements after the end of session. But 2012 has seen more last-minute departures than many political pros can ever recall.

Sen. Ray Vandeveer, R-Forest Lake, surprised Minnesota legislative campaign watchers by announcing he’s withdrawing his re-election bid. The news, which was broke by Minnesota Public Radio, came on the last day of the candidate filing period.

Left for dead in April, the Vikings stadium bill sprinted to passage in the session’s closing days. What happened?

Bunn, who lost her re-election bid in the suburban House District 56A last fall by 5 percentage points, is plotting a run in Senate District 39.

Barring some unlikely resurrection as part of a close-of-session grand bargain, the long-troubled Vikings stadium bill has apparently drawn its last breath of 2012.

House and Senate races across the state are rapidly shaking out after the release of the 2012 legislative map last month. And with local endorsing conventions set to take place throughout March, incumbents and challengers alike have little time to make decisions about their political futures.