The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board recently released Advisory Opinion 397.   The issue, per the Board’s analysis, turned on whether the candidate previously ran for any other office.  According to the opinion,

In the previous election cycle, the Requester met the definition of a “candidate” under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 10A since he raised and spent more than $100 to influence his nomination at the endorsing convention. However, the statutory language that qualifies a person for a campaign expenditure limit increase is not based on whether an individual has been a “candidate” for the office before, but whether the person has “run for office” previously.  Meeting the minimal financial threshold for becoming a candidate does not necessarily constitute running for office.