The MNsure Board will hold a final pre-launch meeting, which is scheduled to include a progress update from interim CEO Scott Leitz.

Longtime Republican donors Stanley Hubbard and Tom Rosen are mounting a campaign of their own this year. The broadcasting magnate and beef processing CEO are trying to get a vast and complicated web of GOP donors, operatives and activists to march in step when it comes to the 2014 elections.

Michael Snow, a Minneapolis attorney and investor, gave $1.16 million to federal political candidates and causes last year.

With a quick swipe of his pen, Gov. Mark Dayton made Minnesota the 12th state in the nation to allow same-sex marriages as a crowd of more than a thousand watched on the front steps of the Capitol Tuesday.

The ceremony marked a dramatic shift in Minnesota, where two years ago lawmakers voted to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to ban gay marriages. Six months ago, voters rejected that amendment by a more than 5 point margin. Come August 1, same-sex couples in the state will be able to apply for wedding licenses and couples married in other states will have their union recognized in Minnesota.

For better or worse, Michael Brodkorb was back on the campaign trail last week. This time, however, the former GOP attack dog, deputy Republican Party chair and Senate communications guru who helped mastermind the 2010 GOP takeover of the chamber has materialized in a glossy pink and blue mailer that’s being used to attack Republicans.

On Tuesday afternoon, officials from the United Food and Commercial Workers union met at the DFL headquarters in St. Paul with Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk and House Minority Leader Paul Thissen.

It’s not hard to see why campaign operatives from both political parties have had Minnesota’s newly drawn Senate District 53 on their radar since day one.

Despite their minority status in both the state House and Senate, the DFL caucuses significantly outperformed Republicans in fundraising from the beginning of January until the end of July.

Republican legislative leaders face challenges in amassing a suitable war chest due to both a well-fortified traditional DFL donor base and a state Republican Party that is financially imperiled.