I wrote two weeks ago that Minnesota's sleepy election cycle might finally start to wake up, as the race between U.S. Senator Al Franken and businessman Mike McFadden's had started to generate some buzz with the national media.

Last week the Star Tribune's Senior Political Correspondent in Washington, Allison Sherry, wrote that political analyst Stu Rothenberg, "altered his projection of the state's November Senate race, making it slightly more competitive, from 'Safe Democrat' to 'Democrat Favored.'"

Now today, Larry J. Sabato of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics called Minnesota's U.S. Senate race, "The sleeper" (sound familiar?), adding:

What this means is Minnesota's U.S. Senate race is continuing to be ranked as a close race nationally, which will translate to more political activity in Minnesota. McFadden is facing Republican competition in the upcoming primary, but McFadden is heavily favored to win.

While most Minnesotans are likley not aware of the candidates in all the elections, the race between Franken and McFadden will be getting more of their attention soon.

Picture source: Office of U.S. Senator Al Franken and Mike McFadden for U.S. Senate.