The cause of immigration reform has led Bill Blazar a bit outside his organization’s usual comfort zone. The second-in-command at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce has been with the organization for two decades, but his position advocating in favor of comprehensive immigration reform in Washington, D.C. represents the first time he’s undertaken a major role on a federal issue.

Standing in front of nearly 1,000 of the state’s top business leaders and GOP political influencers is likely not Gov. Mark Dayton’s favorite place to be. The Democratic governor has been at odds with business groups since he first ran for election in 2010, when they sunk millions into trying to defeat him.

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.

Legislation to establish a Minnesota health insurance exchange is nearing the end of its grueling committee march. The House version has cleared six committees, with stops at Taxes and Ways and Means still ahead. In the Senate, where the bill has also cleared six committees, it awaits only a stop in Rules and Administration before moving to the floor.

Republican David Gaither likes to compare himself to a Biblical character by the same name. That’s because he and his supporters view his Democratic opponent Terri Bonoff as something of a Goliath.

No fewer than half a dozen major players have emerged among the ranks of pro-Republican business PACs in this election cycle. But while their 42-day pre-general election campaign finance reports are now available for all to see, they continue to play it close with respect to their big-picture plans.

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce has been flummoxed in recent legislative sessions not so much by their usual sparring partners in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party but by a new coterie of conservative Republicans.

On Tuesday hundreds of labor unions, business groups, lobbying shops and other independent political organizations submitted reports detailing how much money they’ve raised so far this year, what they’ve already spent and how much they have in the bank.

Last year voters in Wisconsin witnessed an ugly campaign for a seat on the state’s Supreme Court between incumbent justice David Prosser and assistant attorney general JoAnne Kloppenburg. Some three dozen outside interest groups spent $4.5 million seeking to influence the outcome of the contest, according to a report by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.