Legislation establishing a state-run marketplace where individuals and small businesses can purchase health insurance is on its way to Gov. Mark Dayton's desk. The Senate passed the bill on a 39-28 party-line vote on Monday.

Carrying rainbow flags and signs saying "Love is Love," the supporters sang and chanted "marriage equality now" on Thursday afternoon as House members entered into their scheduled floor session for the day. The headliners of the event, organized by campaign-turned-lobbying group Minnesotans United for All Families, were clergy members representing denominations and faith groups from around the state.

During the fall campaign season, the Republican Party of Minnesota sent out mailings in Senate District 4 accusing Kent Eken of voting to raise the “granny tax.”

Downey announced his plan in an email blast to activists on Thursday morning, calling for a "redesign" of the debt-plagued state GOP party. Current GOP Party Chairman Pat Shortridge has said he will step down from the position when his term ends in the spring.

Myron Frans has been making the pitch for about two years now. The Minneapolis tax attorney turned revenue commissioner started his tenure in Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration out on the road, carrying with him a pair of stools to demonstrate the need for comprehensive changes to the state’s tax code.

Of the 38 seats won by DFLers in reclaiming control of the Minnesota Senate on Nov. 6, no fewer than 14 will be filled by members who were not part of the caucus in 2011-12. But in several cases, the newcomers will hardly be strangers.

Rumblings about the marriage amendment’s unpopularity in the western suburbs came early in the campaign season. Orange and blue “vote no” signs vastly outnumbered “vote yes” ones, particularly in places like Edina, and Republican candidates running for the Legislature avoided the issue at the doors and in debates at all cost.

Before closing his victory speech after winning back the DFL majority in the Minnesota Senate, a teary-eyed DFL Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk grabbed the arm of one of his first-time candidates and lifted it high. “I want to introduce you to Senator-elect Melisa Franzen,” Bakk shouted to an exuberant crowd of DFLers gathered in downtown St. Paul at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. “They didn’t lose because they are Republicans; they lost because they are wrong.”

When it comes to spending by Minnesota’s political parties, the state DFL has emerged as the No. 1 player in the 2012 battle for control of Legislature.

The DFL and its caucus units have spent more than $5.4 million during 2012, and have a combined $2.32 million cash on hand.