President Donald Trump is hoping that $5,000 checks can juice Republican turnout in November's midterm elections – but even some of his devoted fans are doubting that government payouts would arrive.
Perhaps the only traditional candidate debate in the race for Minnesota’s top office is tonight. For the second – and likely last – time Republican gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth and DFL candidate Amy Klobuchar will face off in a televised debate in Rochester. Fox9 and Gray Media are hosting the event that’s set to start at 7 p.m. The debate is expected to cover more issues than a candidate forum earlier this week
in Brainerd. That one, as you might expect, stuck to business issues since the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce was hosting. Expect to see candidates again try to draw contrasts in terms of how they’d govern and make closing arguments to voters with less than two weeks to the big day.
During an Oval Office news conference that included several attacks against Minnesota, President Donald Trump announced a $25 million program to encourage the public to report suspected fraud. As Peter reported
, Nick Shirley, an online influencer who put Minnesota’s fraud problem on Trump’s radar, received the first reward of $10,000 under the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program. The president took swipes at both Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, saying they knew about the fraud and did not do anything. Officials also announced that the Department of Justice went to court to seize three buildings along a half block in south Minneapolis that they say were purchased using proceeds from fraud schemes.
Lisa Demuth put some distance between herself and Nick Shirley during a Tuesday news conference. Minnesota Republicans, including state House Speaker and governor hopeful Lisa Demuth, initially touted the Shirley video. Demuth said three days after it was posted in late December that House Republicans aided Shirley. “Our caucus has been working to expose fraud for years, including working with Nick Shirley and agency whistleblowers to get the information out to the public and to hold the Walz administration accountable,” she said during
a Dec. 29 video press conference. But when asked about Shirley yesterday, Demuth said she’s never met him or talked to him. She said all the material he used was publicly available.
Amy Klobuchar says she’ll pass on advice from former U.S. Rep. Vin Weber, a Republican, to the next U.S. senator — or senators — from Minnesota.
One new senator will represent the state next year after Sen. Tina Smith steps down and Klobuchar’s Senate seat could also see a new occupant if Klobuchar wins the race for governor. Klobuchar says she’ll offer advice about the committee assignments. “I think that I will advise them from the very beginning on making sure what committees that they're on, things that matter to Minnesota,” she told reporters on Monday. Like Weber advised her, Klobuchar said she’d recommend the Commerce Committee “because it has infrastructure, transportation. It has a bunch of business issues that are important. I never looked back from that advice.” And she said the new senators could also seek
appointments to the agriculture committee.
The national Democratic group looking to surge Democratic power in state legislatures says it sees a “once-in-a-generation” chance to elect trifectas around the country.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee held a press update yesterday and said Minnesota is among its top battlegrounds. The margin here couldn’t be tighter, with the House tied and Democrats holding a one-vote edge in the Senate. “If we are successful on election night, Democrats could win back power that we haven't held in our states since the early years of the Obama presidency,” DLCC President Heather Williams said. Williams said the group is targeting districts currently represented by Republicans that supported Kamala Harris in 2024 for Democratic pickups. The Star Tribune took a
new approach
to breaking out the especially competitive races — modeling who would win in four situations; if Republicans improve on 2024 gains, Republican support remains stable, if a Democratic wave hits the state or it’s a mild Democratic year. They forecast who would benefit from each of those situations and what those outcomes would mean for the power breakdown in St. Paul. This week’s episode of Politics Friday will focus on control of the Legislature and what legislative leaders would do if voters hand them Capitol control. Tune in Friday at Noon for that conversation.
Klobuchar’s campaign is considering legal options against a stealth group sending out mailers targeting her. As the Star Tribune reports
, the sender is listed as Citizens for Public Safety Transparency, LLC., whose return address points to a northern Minnesota property in Trump country, where the owner says the group has no office and has filed a complaint. Careful Capitol View readers may remember we wrote about this last week, noting that the group isn’t yet registered with campaign or business regulators yet has “transparency” in its name.
There was a quiet extension of the window to apply to be Minnesota’s new government watchdog.
Applications are now being accepted through Oct. 30 for the position of leader of the Office of the Inspector General. Basically, THE inspector in that title. The deadline had originally been Oct. 15. As of Monday, 26 people had put in for the opening. The Legislature created the entity as an independent set of eyes on government programs with broad authority to examine spending, investigate irregularities and recommend changes. The job paying $198,000 a year has a rigid set of qualifications. Once the deadline passes, an interview process will begin for candidates who pass an initial screen. A special legislative commission will recommend finalists to the governor. The governor —
possibly the next one — will nominate a director who will then need to gain Senate confirmation. If all goes according to plan, the office will be up and running early next year.
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