In January, Common Cause Minnesota filed a complaint with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board accusing the state Republican Party of repeatedly failing to properly report expenses and contributions.

A financial report released by the Republican Party of Minnesota on Monday found that there was no theft or illegal activity by former party officers but did point to a pattern of fiscal mismanagement that has left the party about $2 million in debt.

A financial report released by the Republican Party of Minnesota on Monday afternoon found that there was no theft or illegal activity by former party officers or former state Chairman Tony Sutton, but did point to a pattern of fiscal mismanagement and “questionable decision-making” that has left the party more than $1 million in debt.

Amid internal controversies over the Republican Party of Minnesota’s debt after state Chairman Tony Sutton’s resignation, party officers and insiders initially maintained that the state GOP was not legally required to pay the nearly $500,000 in legal fees racked up during the 2010 gubernatorial election recount.

On Wednesday one of the GOP attorneys on the recount, Tony Trimble, told PIM that then-RPM Chairman Sutton signed an agreement legally obliging the party to cover the full cost of the recount legal fees, reportedly around $450,000. And late Wednesday afternoon, Sutton confirmed the existence of an agreement that he says he does not recall disclosing to other party officials. But Sutton went on to claim that he believes the party is only responsible for the debt in the event that the recount fund in question, incorporated as Count Them All Properly Inc., ceases to exist.

In late November, a group of roughly two dozen Republican activists gathered at a residence in Edina to discuss the future of the state Republican Party. The meeting included a broad cross-section of the GOP’s notoriously fractious base.

There’s a sense of aplomb among Minnesota Republicans when they talk about their prospects for coming out on top in this decade’s redistricting process.

Supporting Michele Bachmann’s presidential bid wasn’t necessarily an easy decision for David FitzSimmons. While the three-term Republican congresswoman would seem a natural choice for FitzSimmons, who chairs the Republican Party in her home 6th District, he was squarely in the Ron Paul camp during the 2008 election and worked for his campaign.