Photo: Andy Mannix

Only a few opponents to the bill showed up to the signing.

Gov. Mark Dayton signed the gay marriage bill on the Capitol steps Tuesday evening, officially making Minnesota the 12th state to allow same-sex couples to wed.

Thousands gathered on the Capitol lawn on this sweltering evening to witness the historic moment, many wearing orange t-shirts -- the color for Minnesota United for All Families, the primary group lobbying for the bill -- and waving rainbow flags and balloons.

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Best Signs at the Senate Vote for Marriage Equality

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Kelly Fenton was also re-elected to deputy party chair.

Former state representative and businessman Keith Downey handily beat out three others for Minnesota's Republican Party chair spot Saturday.

Downey was first elected to the House in 2008, succeeding longtime Republican representative and "Override Six" member Ron Erhardt. He was re-elected in 2010, and lost a Senate bid to Melisa Franzen last fall in the most expensive legislative race in Minnesota history.

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DesJarlais art by Tom Huck for City Pages

Kline is hosting a $500-per-plate fundraiser for DesJarlais, but won't say whether he wants the embattled Congressman to win reelection next year.

Tomorrow, Minnesota U.S. Rep. John Kline is hosting a fundraiser for sex scandal-embattled Tennessee U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais.

THE BACKSTORY: John Kline hosting fundraiser for "anti-abortion zealot with running tab at Planned Parenthood"

Kline won't be attending the event and his spokesman won't say whether Kline wants DesJarlais to win reelection next year, but a Federal Election Commission report indicates Kline gave $4,000 to DesJarlais last October -- after news DesJarlais had an affair with a patient of his and urged her to get an abortion went public.

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Walker on gay marriage: Voters "don't want to get focused" on it.

During an appearance yesterday on Meet the Press, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said he thinks it's time his party concedes defeat and moves past the marriage equality issue.

SEE ALSO: Wisconsin wife runs husband over with SUV following Scott Walker recall argument

Walker's remarks come on the heels of the release of new nationwide polling showing that 51 percent of Republicans under the age of 30 support marriage equality at the state level. As Mother Jones reports, according to the polling, "the only major demographic that still opposes same-sex marriage is white, evangelical Christians."

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DesJarlais art by Tom Huck for City Pages

Kline (left) is hosting a fundraiser for DesJarlais, a Republican who opposes abortions except in cases where he's knocked someone up.

U.S. Rep. John Kline is under fire for hosting a fundraiser for embattled Tennessee U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais. Kline's office says he won't be attending the event.

SEE ALSO: GOP Reps. Erik Paulsen and John Kline taking heat for supporting "forcible rape" language

In our recent cover feature about the 10 Weirdest Members of Congress, DesJarlais was characterized as "the anti-abortion zealot with a running tab at Planned Parenthood."

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Craig has spent more than $200,000 contesting a misdemeanor charge he pleaded guilty to. Not exactly the paradigm of fiscal responsibility!

Folks gave dough to GOP Sen. Larry Craig because they believed in his politics and wanted to help continue his career in the U.S. Senate. Instead, they might end up paying lawyers to argue that Craig really does have one of the widest bathroom stall stances known to man.

SEE ALSO: Larry Craig airport bathroom sex still hilarious on the The Daily Show

Craig wants to use campaign funds to foot the bill for the $216,000 he's spent trying to get the misdemeanor charge he pleaded guilty to in August 2007 removed from his record. But during a hearing before in U.S. District Court yesterday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson sounded less than persuaded by the reasoning Craig and his counsel are employing.

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A question with no easy answer.

A surprising majority of Minnesotans don't want our state to be the next to legalize same-sex marriage, according to a new poll, but that doesn't include the leader of the college Republicans.

Ryan Lyk, chairman of the Minnesota College Republicans, released a statement this morning in support of legislators lifting the ban on gay marriage. Writes Lyk:

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-Gay marriage amendment defeated in Minnesota

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"Members are saying there's no sense in running if I'm not going to have more money than the other guy," Nolan told the Strib.

Think serving in Congress sounds fun? Well, consider this: According to new Congressman Rick Nolan, just three months after being elected, he's already expected to spend four hours each day working the phones in preparation for the next election.

SEE ALSO: Michele Bachmann is making shit up in her latest fundraising e-mail

So maybe the best training for a job as a Representative or Senator is extensive experience in the realm of phone sales.

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Following the money suggests there's more to Paulsen's medical device tax view than a concern about stifling economic activity.

On Wednesday, Republican U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen introduced a bill to repeal the medical device tax included in Obamacare. In 2012, by a wide margin, Paulsen led the House in money received from medical supply companies.

SEE ALSO: Republicans sound the trumpet as Obamacare contributes to St. Jude's Minnesota layoffs

Seems like there's probably a connection between those two things, right? But Paulsen denies it.

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Morgan's criminal behavior stirred controversy while his dad served in office.

The 34-year-old son of former U.S. Sen. Rod Grams is facing attempted burglary charges for allegedly trying to break into a home earlier this month in Onamia, a small central Minnesota town in Mille Lacs County.

Officers arrested Morgan Grams on Feb. 2 outside the home, along with two 17-year-old females and a 16-year-old male, according to the criminal complaint.

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Mille Lacs Ojibwe fighting violent offenders with banishment

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