Busy week at Mark Richie’s Office…

Last week, filings were coming in a few at a time. This week, they’re coming fast and furious. Here’s a quick overview of races that developed since the weekend:

US House, 6th District: Michelle Bachman hasn’t filed for re-election yet (shhh... maybe she'll forget), but fellow GOPer Aubrey Immelman did, from Europe, where he’s conducting “military training”.

07B, Downtown Duluth, open seat with no endorsee. John Derbis has joined Roger Reinert and Marshall Sternersen (no website yet) in seeking this seat, setting up the first three-way primary of the season. The seat is very safe for the DFL, so the primary will almost surely determine Duluth’s next state representative. More coverage here and at Minnesota Brown.

16B, DFL endorsed Steve Andrews is facing a challenge from newcomer Bruno Gad (who seems not to have a website but did run in 2006 as well) in what looks to be among the most interesting of all state house races. Former Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer has filed after winning the GOP nod at convention. Surprisingly, Kiffmeyer’s site isn’t up either, though it isn’t like any of us need to read about her to know her agenda. Incumbent Mark Olsen is widely expected to file as an independent (as soon as he’s collected the signatures to do so) but his challenger from the right is very strong, and he’s got some problems of his own involving his wife and the Bible.

41B, GOP primary now set between longtime incumbent (and override 6 member) Neil Peterson of Bloomington against Jan Schneider, the GOP endorsed candidate. They’re vying to take on Paul Rosenthal. Schneider’s website has a section called “know the facts” and it lashes Peterson with a vengeance not frequently seen in primary contests. This district has never been very conservative, and the GOP candidate, whichever it is, will limp out to the general election, hopefully to take a beating by Rosenthal.

42A, DFL incumbent Maria Rudd drew a challenge from Daniel Kim (who has nothing for me to link with you, as far as I can tell) in this affluent district stretching from Eden Prairie to Minnetonka. Representative Rudd will be facing a stiff challenge from the GOP in the general, but so far it looks like she’ll have an easier time in the primary owing to her moderate and well-received track record for her typical 3rd congressional district constituents and her opponent’s lack of name recognition.

48B, Anoka, is another GOP primary involving a member of the override 6, Jim Abler. In this race, the convention returned no endorsement, as no one ran against Abler. Don Huizenga filed to run in the primary against him, citing of course Abler’s moderate record and vote for the transportation bill. With claims like “I am emphasizing the fact that I am a statesman, not a politician,” Huizenga’s candidacy is hard to take seriously.

64A, St. Paul, Republicans Meg Ferber and Sharon Anderson are running against one another for the privilege of taking on Erin Murphy, a first term incumbent DFLer. Meg’s website has nothing objectionable on it, and though several sections are still under construction, I’d have to say it’s the most effective GOP website I’ve been to yet. I cannot say the same about Sharon’s website, which is among the most extreme I’ve seen. Her blog is overrun with accounts of her legal attempts to turn out Democratic elected officials, especially St. Paul City Council members, an office she was coincidentally seeking at the time, advertisements for Ann Coulter’s books, and ranting. She does have Ron Paul’s photo in a couple places, so I guess that I’d have to chalk that up in her favor.