Jim Hovland

Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District is one of two 2010 House races that analysts view as competitive in the state. But whether the district attracts significant attention — and money — from Democrats will probably hinge on how strong a challenger emerges.

Edina Mayor Jim Hovland today suspended his campaign for the Democratic endorsement in the 3rd Congressional District.

Hovland, a recent convert to the DFL, had been trailing behind attorney Ashwin Madia and State Sen. Terri Bonoff, DFL-Minnetonka, in the race for the endorsement. The winner will face off against State Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Eden Prairie, for [...]

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman has endorsed Jim Hovland’s congressional bid in the Third district. 

Freeman preceded Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the County Attorney’s office before running unsuccessfully for Governor in 1998.  He returned to the office in 2006 by defeating fellow DFLer Andy Luger, with the support of many Republicans and independents in suburban areas [...]

The three Democrats running for the DFL endorsement in the Third Congressional District met last night for their final debate before Senate District conventions start electing delegates to the CD3 DFL convention.

With an exciting and hotly contested race for an open seat, the candidates and crowd did not disappoint.

On the issues, Terri Bonoff, Ashwin Madia [...]

With a rout in South Carolina and John Edwards’ withdrawal from the race stealing headlines from Hillary Clinton’s sort-of-a-win in Florida, Barack Obama has surged in the polls, both nationally and state by state. The latest polls in California indicate a statistical tie, and Massachusetts has tightened as well, with Obama endorsements from both senators, [...]

Something or other is going on in New Hampshire today. Plenty of coverage of primary results, as well as analysis and reaction from the blogs, to come later in the day.

In the meantime, we have money numbers in the Senate race! Let’s chew on some.

Senate:  DFL contender Al Franken announced yesterday that he raised a [...]

News cycles are funny things — an item can be news right up until the point that something bigger comes along and makes it passe.

In today’s case, that Something Bigger is the Iowa Caucuses, set for this evening, which will officially kick off the 2008 presidential race.  But that doesn’t mean there isn’t local news [...]

The end of the year also marks the end of the final Federal Election Commission reporting period of 2007. The open seat in Minnesota’s Third congressional district has at least four serious contenders, three DFLers and one Republican, seeking their party’s nominations in earnest.

How are they doing money-wise? It’s anyone’s guess, really. The campaigns are [...]

From Mr. Hovland:  “I’d like to thank everyone for attending tonight and for your interest in the 3rd District race, which hasn’t been held by a Democrat in almost fifty years. 

We hope to cover a wide range of topics of interest to citizens in the Third District and across Minnesota.  “

Mr. Hovland should be online [...]

What do you get when you mix three legitimate candidates, three not-so-legitimate candidates, and a room full of progressives who want drastic action on Iraq and U.S. foreign policy?

A candidate forum that went from thoughtful to zany as quickly as you could say “Impeach George W. Bush.”

Monday night’s candidate forum presented a chance for the [...]