When it comes to his bid for re-election next fall, Rep. Tim Faust said the gay marriage vote will only have a small impact on his chances. “It’s going to make a difference, but is it going to make a difference in the mind of the independent voter? I don’t think so.”

Kieffer, of Woodbury, released a statement on Wednesday announcing her plans to step down, according to Woodbury Patch. Kieffer was one of only five Republican legislators to vote in favor of legalizing gay marriage this spring.

In a statement released Tuesday night, MN NOW said MN United PAC was focusing only on the issue of gay marriage and not considering the other positions of candidates it plans to support. The political fund is affiliated with Minnesotans United for All Families, the group that led the successful effort to legalize gay marriage last session.

Minnesota Department of Revenue Commissioner Myron Frans on Wednesday explained the implications for Minnesota that result from a federal ruling requiring that same-sex spouses get treated the same for tax purposes as opposite sex married couples.

The "Marriage Majority Initiative," launched by the group on Thursday morning, will "work to restore a pro-marriage majority in the Minnesota House in 2014 by supporting legislators who withstood immense political pressure in order to cast a vote in defense of traditional marriage."

The legalization of gay marriage was one of the most high-profile new laws passed in the DFL-controlled Legislature last session, but a handful of other less-heralded policy changes will also kick in at midnight on Aug. 1.

Of all the economic measures that Democrats adopted in the last session, the one with the greatest economic impact maybe the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Richard Carlbom, chief strategist in Minnesota the gay marriage push, will head a state-by-state campaign.

Carlbom has been hired by national gay rights advocacy group Freedom to Marry as director of campaigns in 37 states to legalize gay marriage. Freedom to Marry, which donated more than $2 million to Minnesota during its gay marriage battle, is turning its attention to individual states after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) last month.

Catching up with four former GOP legislators.