faustGiven that the 2008 campaign season forges miserably on as attorneys for Norm Coleman and Al Franken haggle for votes at the Minnesota Supreme Court, it’s a bit unseemly to start handicapping the next election cycle. But plenty of candidates are already raising money and lining up support for Legislature contests in 2010.

At least 10 challengers have filed papers with Minnesota’s Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board since Election Day announcing their intent to run for the state House or Senate. Not surprisingly, given the strong Democratic majorities in both legislative bodies, the bulk  of these early contenders (seven) are Republicans.

Rudy Takala, a veteran GOP activist and chair of the Pine County Republican Party, intends to run against Rep. Tim Faust in House District 8B. Faust has squared off against Judy Soderstrom in the previous three elections, winning two of the contests.

Takala believes it’s time for someone else to take a stab at the seat. He expects gay marriage and high taxes to be important issues in the 2010 contest and argues that the state Republican party has strayed too far from its conservative roots.

“I don’t think they look at who the best candidates are,” he says. “They look too closely at whose turn it is. I think that needs to change if we’re going to get better candidates.”

Another swing district that’s likely to see an electoral battle in 2010 is 41A in Edina. Rep. Keith Downey survived a tough three-way contest last year to keep the seat in the GOP column, winning with just 37 percent of the vote. Downey got the Republican endorsement over nine-term incumbent Ron Erhardt, who was shunned by his party after voting to raise the gas tax.

Doug Pagitt has already signed up to run on the DFL side of the ledger in 2010. He’s motivated in part by the ugly manner in which local Republicans dispatched Erhardt after nearly two decades of service.

“I think that they shouldn’t be rewarded for that kind of behavior,” Pagitt says. “I think it’s mean-spirited and narrow-minded.”

The fledgling politician is the founder of Solomon’s Porch, which is described as a “holistic, missional Christian community,” and the author of numerous relgious books. Although he filed to run for the House, Pagitt could alter his plans and take on GOP Sen. Geoff Michell. Either way the early filing will allow Pagitt to begin raising money and establishing name recognition.

“It takes a while,” he notes. “It’s not easy starting from a dead stop.”

Another candidate with a religious background has filed to run in Senate District 31, currently held by Democrat Sharon Erickson Ropes. Paul Ibisch is the pastor at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in La Crescent, and also chair of the Republican Party in Houston County.

“I’m an ordinary person who lives from paycheck to paycheck,” says Ibisch, in explaining why he filed so early. “I have to really establish a grassroots support system for my campaign.”

Social issues, including opposition to abortion, will be a focus of his campaign. “We’re very concerned about family values and the well-being of the family in our community and our state,” he says.

Democrat Lisa Fobbe won her Senate race by just 84 votes in District 16, which leans heavily toward the GOP. She almost certainly benefited from the write-in candidacy of disaffected Republican Mark Olson, who garnered almost 1,500 votes.

Not surprisingly Fobbe has already attracted opposition for 2010 — Republican Jason White, an emergency room nurse, fiscal conservative and political neophyte.  “The consensus is if you get your name out there early you have a better shot,” White says.

In Senate District 52, Dennis Hegberg is the only candidate registered to run as an independent. The Washington County Commissioner has historically been a Republican, but the local party refused to endorse him for re-election last year after he voted to enact a transit tax.

Hegberg says he probably won’t run if incumbent Sen. Ray Vandeveer decides to seek another term, but by filing early he can begin to raise money.

“If I go as an independent, it’s a very difficult task to do,” he notes.