Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-Hopkins) announced today he would seek the DFL nomination for Secretary of State, joining fellow Rep. Debra Hillstrom and former Rep. Jeremy Kalin. Rachel Larson Bohman opted to end her campaign, leaving these three as the current DFL field.
Republicans Rep. Joyce Peppin, former Rep. Kent Kaiser, 2010 nominee Dan Severson and Dennis Nguyen are all considering, planning or in the midst of a run on that side of the ballot.
As I’ve said, the Independence Party will also have an important role in this race, and it remains to be seen whether they recruit a plausible candidate or not.
Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (DFL) announced his retirement after his term ends next year, prompting a ferocious, pent-up scrum for potential candidates who don’t have many other outlets for a statewide run (particularly on the DFL side, as Republicans will be fielding a number of challengers to Gov. Mark Dayton and Sen. Al Franken).
I’m really only following this so closely now to wrap up my initial coverage, which at that time included the possibility of a northern candidate. Unless I’m mistaken, the most northern candidate in this field is Peppin on the far northern edge of Hennepin County. Kalin used to represent east central Minnesota in the legislature but lives in Minneapolis now.
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