Although the office is technically nonpartisan, Eddie Frizell’s announcement sets the stage for an uncharacteristically competitive contest to run law enforcement operations in the state’s most populous county.

Amid mounting concern over the use of high-tech surveillance tools such as cellphone trackers and automated license plate readers, a procession of privacy experts and top law enforcement officials testified before a packed crowd at the meeting of the House of Representatives Civil Law Committee on Tuesday.

Dayton said the existing "operational problems" worry him, and are the kind of hitches that should have been worked out some time ago.

Scott Honour is seeking the GOP nomination for governor in 2014. The businessman announced the decision through a campaign video that was posted on his web site Wednesday.

On paper the open seat in House District 43A should favor the DFL nominee. Partisan indexes suggest the district tilts in their favor by anywhere from 2 to 14 percentage points.

She’s powerful. Her district is utterly safe. But to sail in November, Sen. Julianne Ortman has to get past a primary challenger.

In surveying the 2012 campaign cash landscape in Minnesota, it’s not immediately obvious who’s going to help Republican legislators defend their majorities.