SNAPSHOT
Sen. Steve Kelley's campaign ended on June 10, 2006 when he lost what became two-person battle for the DFL endorsement during the party convention in Rochester.

He stressed education as his principal issue in the 2006 campaign. He serves as chairman of the Senate K-12 Budget Committee, which often puts him at odds with Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Kelley, a third-term senator from Hopkins, is one of the Pawlenty administration's leading critics, especially when it comes to education matters. As chairman of the Senate Education Committee, he led the hearings that resulted in the ouster of Education Commissioner Cheri Yecke and he helped draft the state's new academic standards after disagreeing with ones put out by Yecke.

Kelley has sought statewide office before. He tried but failed to get the DFL's U.S. Senate nod in 2000. "It will be an energetic campaign from the very beginning," Kelley said. There's a benefit to being an early entrant, he said. "Every subsequent story includes your name."