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.

Despite their minority status in both the state House and Senate, the DFL caucuses significantly outperformed Republicans in fundraising from the beginning of January until the end of July.

Matt Entenza and his wife, Lois Quam, aren’t exactly the first names that pop up when Minnesota politicos talk about heavy-hitter political donors.

Carrie Lucking, executive director, Alliance for a Better Minnesota The three DFL-aligned organizations that played a pivotal role in helping Mark Dayton win the 2010 gubernatorial contest are poised to once again be major players in this year's elections. The 2012 Fund, WIN Minnesota Political Action Fund and Alliance for a Better Minnesota Action Fund reported raising $1.5 million and had nearly $1.3 million cash on hand at the close of the pre-primary filing period.

Veteran DFL campaign strategist Jeff Blodgett, who was recently named executive director of the independent expenditure group WIN Minnesota, has got his work cut out for him in 2012.

Ken Martin describes his reaction as “shocked” when he began going through the DFL Party’s finances after becoming state chairman in February. The most unnerving discovery: The party was roughly $700,000 in debt.

Long after Hubert H. Humphrey gave up the pointer and lectern of the classroom, he remained a teacher. Bob Meek should know - Humphrey taught Meek how to write.

A formidable array of third-party raising and spending power has taken shape behind Democrats in the Minnesota governor's race, as three DFL-friendly political action committees have joined forces to dish out nearly $3 million to keep GOP nominee Tom Emmer out of the governor's office.

The Alliance for a Better Minnesota is leading spending in the Minnesota governor's race by third party groups, with almost all of its $2.9 million already spent on ads against GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Emmer. But the Alliance is not the group raking in the cash.

Minnesota’s six biggest political party units — the state GOP and DFL, and their four legislative caucuses — raised and transferred a total of $5.06 million during the pre-primary reporting period this year.