Republican state Sen. Scott Newman is aiming to take on Democratic Attorney General Lori Swanson, he announced Thursday.
In a release sharing his campaign news, which had long been peculating, he immediately went after the state's two-term chief attorney.
"I am looking to change the atmosphere and approach of the Attorney General's Office to be one of enforcing our laws and defending our state, rather than protecting a particular party platform and furthering its goals," said in a statement.
He noted that the last Republican Attorney General -- Doug Head -- was elected in 1966.
It has also been a generation since a Minnesota Republican ousted an incumbent Democrat in a statewide race.
Newman will be up for GOP endorsement at the Friday start of the party's convention.
Update: His campaign told the Politics.MN blog that he is planning on renewing his inactive law license this summer.
