Amy Klobuchar is portrayed as a Senate candidate "taking her marching orders from national liberals," while her likely Republican opponent, Mark Kennedy, is "just another rubber stamp" for President Bush. Such is the increasingly common attack language being used in press releases from political operatives. (07/25/2006)

DFL gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch is blasting the state's largest newspaper for a story that hasn't been published. He claims the Star Tribune is trying to dig up dirt on his family. (07/24/2006)

Four of the DFLers seeking to replace retiring 5th District Congressman Martin Sabo debated the war in Iraq, health care and poverty issues Monday. The four DFLers agreed on a number of major national issues, but tried to differentiate themselves based on their experience. (07/24/2006)

President Bush vetoed a bill Wednesday that would expand federal research on stem cells obtained from embryos. The issue could also play a role in the November election, since two of the U.S. Senate candidates in Minnesota differ on the issue. (07/19/2006)

Matt Entenza, the DFL-endorsed candidate for attorney general dropped his candidacy Tuesday, setting off a flurry of last-minute filings for the September primary. Five DFL candidates are now in the running. (07/18/2006)

The political debate in Minnesota this week has focused more on the parking tickets of some candidates than on substantive issues. The friction between DFL leaders Mike Hatch and Matt Entenza came to a head publicly, and the debate between DFLers in the 5th Congressional District is heating up. (Midday, 07/14/2006)

DFL Attorney General candidate Matt Entenza says he's horrified and embarrassed by revelations that a Chicago firm he hired dug for dirt on current DFL Attorney General Mike Hatch. He says he will apologize to Hatch, his fellow Democrat, the party's endorsed candidate for governor. (07/13/2006)

Republican Party officials are calling on two of the state's top Democrats to come clean on an apparent feud between them. (07/12/2006)

Ford Bell has dropped out of the race for U.S. Senate. Bell, a DFLer, intended to challenge Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar in the September primary. But he says difficulty raising money led to his withdrawal. (07/11/2006)

Republican Gil Gutknecht is running for re-election in Minnesota's 1st Congressional District, long considered the most conservative in the state. But Democrats say that may be changing, and predict Gutknecht will be vulnerable this time around. (07/07/2006)

Former DFL State Party Chair Mike Erlandson has filed papers to run for Congress in the 5th Congressional District. Erlandson is bucking his party's endorsement of another candidate, and is getting help from his former boss -- the man who's retiring from that office. (07/06/2006)

The DFL-endorsed candidates for U.S. Senate and governor say they're focusing on the November general election, and the Republicans running in the race. But Amy Klobuchar and Mike Hatch must first get through the September primary, and both face primary challengers who claim to have stronger positions on the issues. (07/05/2006)

The Rev. Jesse Jackson rallied support for DFLer Keith Ellison's campaign for the 5th Congressional District seat in Minneapolis Friday afternoon. (06/30/2006)

If elected, Rep. Keith Ellison would be the first African American congressman from Minnesota and the first Muslim congressman in the nation's history. But Ellison's past, in particular his relationship with the Nation of Islam, are causing some Jewish activists and others to question if he's the best candidate. (06/30/2006)

Seizing on a seemingly endless string of Washington scandals in recent months, both of Minnesota's leading U.S. Senate candidates are trying to make congressional ethics an issue in their hotly contested race. (06/29/2006)