***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."

Flanked by a half dozen supporters at the State Office Building, former Eagan state Rep. Mike Obermueller made his campaign against Congressman John Kline official this week. “John Kline hasn’t changed Washington nearly as much as Washington has changed John Kline,” Obermueller told supporters on Monday.

The field for state Republican Party chair remains in flux. On Tuesday veteran GOP strategist Pat Shortridge announced that he is seeking the post.

Brandon Sawalich's abrupt exit from the GOP chair contest -- following his brief arrest for expired license tabs and questions about a sexual harassment lawsuit settlement -- has left the field wide open.

Brandon Sawalich, who is widely seen as the frontrunner to be the next GOP party chair, was arrested on Thursday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for expired license tabs. The 36-year-old senior vice president with Starkey Labs was initially charged with a gross misdemeanor for intent to escape motor vehicle tax.

He's expected to make the announcement official this morning via news release, he said on Twitter late Thursday.

On Dec. 31 Republican activists from across the state will gather in St. Cloud to elect a new party chair. The meeting will cap a tumultuous end to 2011 for the state GOP. Earlier this month Tony Sutton suddenly resigned from the party’s top post. Revelations soon followed that the party is likely more than $1 million in debt.

House Speaker Kurt Zellers is backing Brandon Sawalich for state GOP chair. "Brandon knows that having a strong Republican Party will help all of our candidates from top to bottom," Zellers wrote on Sawalich's Facebook page on Wednesday.

Sawalich, who made an unsuccessful bid for the position in 2009, announced the news on his Twitter feed this morning.

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.