Prospective candidates are lining up for the seat of Congressman Jim Ramstad, who recently announced his retirement. The seat is a swing area that voted for President Bush by a mere three-point margin in 2004, so expect a lot of money to be spent here now that Bush has become amazingly unpopular and there is no long-time incumbent to hold it down.

The only declared candidate thus far is Democratic state Senator Terri Bonoff, who in a 2005 special election won a seat from Ramstad's historically Republican hometown of Minnetonka, and was re-elected in 2006. If Bonoff runs for Congress and loses, she will still have her state Senate job. State Senator Steve Simon and state Representative Melissa Hortman are also looking at the race.

On the Republican side, state Senator Geoff Michel and state Representative Erik Paulsen are regarded as being the potential frontrunners, but other Republicans are also looking at the race, and a lot could change.