In the affidavit, former Bachmann chief of staff Andy Parrish said the congresswoman was aware of the arrangement to pay Sorenson, who was running her Iowa presidential campaign, but she did not know the payments violated the state Senate ethics rules.

For Branden Petersen, the past week has been, in his words, “unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.” It all started when the 27-year-old Republican senator from Andover told the Star Tribune that he’s likely to support a DFL effort to legalize gay marriage in 2013, just months after voters rejected a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

***UPDATED*** On Tuesday night a Bible verse from the Book of Leviticus was posted on the Facebook page of Minnesota for Marriage, the main group promoting a constitutional amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman. "If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable," the passage read. "They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."

The most anticipated political event of the year at the Capitol — the unveiling of court-drawn state legislative and congressional districts that will be used for the next decade — arrived at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Who wants to run the Republican Party of Minnesota? That’s the question that has been generating a steady stream of rumors and trial balloons since state party Chairman Tony Sutton suddenly resigned earlier this month.

In the five days since Tony Sutton resigned as chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota, many names have been floated as potential replacements. But only one potential challenger -- GOP activist Sue Jeffers -- has stated that they're seriously considering seeking the post. Many others have ruled out a run for the cash-strapped party's top post.

Supporting Michele Bachmann’s presidential bid wasn’t necessarily an easy decision for David FitzSimmons. While the three-term Republican congresswoman would seem a natural choice for FitzSimmons, who chairs the Republican Party in her home 6th District, he was squarely in the Ron Paul camp during the 2008 election and worked for his campaign.

Republican campaign strategist Ed Rollins, best known for overseeing President Ronald Reagan's 1984 re-election romp, has joined U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann's potential presidential campaign. Most recently, Rollins served as chairman of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's 2008 presidential bid.