Good morning! In honor of Dolly, feel free to work 9 to 5 today.

Minnesota’s third parties are searching for a way to tap into significant voter discontent with the two-party system. Forward Independence, which can trace its roots to the party of Minnesota’s iconic third-party governor Jesse Ventura, is trying a new strategy to break into the political mainstream. Instead of just running its own slate of candidates, the party is trying to build alliances with candidates of other parties. The approach recognizes how hard it is for third parties to gain political power, something made even more difficult when during the DFL trifecta in 2024, the Legislature raised the threshold for major party status after several pro-marijuana parties gained ground. In some ways, 2026 feels like a ripe moment for alternative candidates to do well: many voters are sick of Democrats and Republicans and some outside candidates have done surprisingly well throughout Minnesota’s history. But as Cait explains, voter fear of the other major party gaining power could mean fewer people are willing to vote for longshot alternative candidates come November. 

Lisa Demuth is proposing to cut both taxes and government spending. At a press conference yesterday to highlight her plan to make Minnesota more affordable, the Republican candidate for governor said she would cut property taxes and eliminate a state tax on social security, tips and overtime. She also said she would ask the Legislature to establish a $99 maximum car tab fee and end automatic gas tax increases. Without offering specifics, Demuth said she would pay for those tax cuts through fraud prevention efforts. “I will direct all commissioners [of state agencies] to find a total of $1 billion in savings across the agencies. We will also save at least $1 billion by cracking down on the rampant fraud in state government programs,” Demuth said. In a statement, DFL party chair Richard Carlbom said Demuth “has proven she won’t stand up to Donald Trump when he raises prices for Minnesotans.”

As President Donald Trump’s trade war in Canada intensifies, tariffs have taken on an elevated role in the Minnesota governor’s race. Canada is an important trade partner for Minnesota, but Trump’s recent decision to impose 50 percent tariffs on Canadian goods has many Minnesotans bracing for economic uncertainty. At yesterday’s press conference, Demuth declined to comment on whether she would remain in lockstep with Trump on his tariff agenda. “That is a federal-level issue,” she said. “What I’m really focused on right now is our state and the affordability. What has made this state unaffordable is the amount of fraud.” Meanwhile, DFL candidate for governor Amy Klobuchar condemned the tariffs and said she would “continue to stand up for the U.S.-Canada relationship to protect Minnesota’s economy.”

Mike Lindell’s latest post-primary stop is the Minnesota Supreme Court. He wants justices to tailor a recount to his liking and let that move forward even though he missed a state deadline to file and pay for one. The election case he filed late Monday (11:38 p.m.) could take days or longer to resolve. Today is the deadline to file documents in the case. If it results in a recount (a longshot), that would take days or longer to pull off. That’s why this is more than just about Lindell’s allegations of irregularities. The important throughline here is that we’re inside of 10 weeks to the election and there is a lot of preparation work to do. Recounts of a primary in all 87 counties would involve the time of many election authorities. You could also count on it being a spectacle of sorts with ballot challenges and doubt-casting galore. The Supreme Court could also decide that there’s nothing for it to decide and that would close the books on the Aug. 11 primary for Minnesota, with two other court cases linked to Lindell still lingering but with high hurdles to clear.

Minnesota voters aren’t expected to be immediately affected by this week’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court related to mail-voting rules being pursued by the U.S. Postal Service. That’s the take of DFL Secretary of State Steve Simon. He put out an advisory Tuesday noting that this was not a decision on the merits of cases around the rules rather about the timing of lawsuits. If fully implemented, the rule could allow the USPS to determine which mail ballots to handle by applying a standard built around state cooperation with voter data requests it supplies to the federal government. Plenty of litigation remains and some experts doubt this will be resolved for this year’s midterm election. Simon said he wants to address confusion. “Nothing has changed. Our mail voting processes remain secure and locally administered — and every Minnesotan who orders a ballot to vote from home will continue to be able to track that ballot every step of the way on mnvotes.gov.” 

Today the public gets its first look at the work of the Governor’s Truth Council, which is documenting the impacts of the ramp up of federal immigration enforcement in the state. Jennifer Prestholt, vice chair of the council, told MPR’s Nina Moini yesterday that “hundreds of people have participated” and about 200 people have been trained as “story collectors.” The council was created in March to document how Minnesotans were affected by Operation Metro Surge and Operation PARRIS, which reevaluates refugees. The council also solicited ideas from the public about legislative or policy changes they want to see at the local, state and federal level to help Minnesota recover “and prevent reocurrence.” Prestholt said the council is continuing to collect stories. The council will hold a  public meeting at 2 p.m. today at the Capitol about violations of the Constitution and the rule of law. Hear the full conversation here.