Despite the presence of a popular incumbent who has trounced his last several challengers, Republicans have fielded a well-known candidate in the 7th Congressional District. To hear some of that area’s activists tell it, the first GOP entrant in that race might be the party’s best chance in years to oust DFL U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson.

Westrom made stops in Moorhead and his hometown of Elbow Lake on Thursday to announce the campaign, which he had been mulling for weeks. National Republicans have been eager to field a strong candidate to run against Peterson, who they say is vulnerable in 2014 over the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act.

DFL U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson finally has a strong Republican challenger in the 1st Congressional District. Today, state Sen. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake, will make his candidacy official, following months of rumors about Westrom's interest in challenging the Democratic incumbent. Westrom is in his first term in the Senate, and won election to the upper chamber in 2012 following seven terms in the House.

A national Republican group is hammering DFLers in three greater Minnesota congressional districts over the technical failures that have beset the rollout of the federal health insurance exchange.

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.

True story: Collin Peterson used to have a tough time getting elected to Congress. It took Peterson four tries before he finally defeated Republican incumbent Arlan Stangeland in 1990. Then Peterson faced back-to-back challenges from Republican Bernie Omann. In 1992 and 1994, Peterson held his seat, defeating Omann by a combined tally of fewer than 9,000 votes.

The Senate passed legislation by a 39-28 vote on Wednesday that will increase the minimum wage to $7.75 an hour for large employers by 2015. All DFLers voted in favor of the measure, while all Republicans cast dissenting votes.

With most major finance bills clearing the House and Senate floors, attention will now turn towards conference committees this week. Conferees on several bills have already been appointed by legislative leaders.

House vets join first-timers in Senate GOP fold as Capitol Report continues profiling all 65 of the newly elected members of the Minnesota Legislature.

Republican Senate candidate Brandon Anderson needed $800, and quick, in order to qualify for the public subsidy for legislative candidates. So he proposed that he and fellow GOP candidates swap donations to each other to help them all qualify -- a move that has attracted the attention of the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.