Gubernatorial candidates: Ins and outs (and maybes) of the race

Minnesota's 2010 governor's race is wide open and drawing a lot of attention from pundits and politicians. After Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced that he would not seek reelection, a small army of gubernatorial aspirants has been maneuvering into position to make a run. And more names get mentioned as possible candidates by the day.

Confused about who's in, who's out and who's thinking about running for governor next year? MinnPost has put together this voter's guide to help you sort out the candidates — and non-candidates — in the gubernatorial race.

The guide lists prominent Minnesotans from various parties who you might have heard mentioned as potential gubernatorial candidates. Some of these people have already said they plan to run, some have said they are thinking about running, some have made clear that they will not run and others have been silent on the question.

We have included in the guide relevant comments each person has made recently about running for governor, a summary of their political and non-political backgrounds and links to their websites and to interesting background material about them.

Most of the research was done by MinnPost's three summer interns: Alexander I. Amend, Wilt Hodges and Emily Ness.

The guide will be updated as the campaign goes forward and as candidates enter and exit the race, so check back frequently.

And if there's additional information you'd like to know about a potential candidate, let us know in the comments below.

Roger Buoen, MinnPost co-managing editor, can be reached at rbuoen [at] minnpost [dot] com.