Good morning. It's Primary Eve.

There will be plenty of choices awaiting voters on their ballots Tuesday. There are primary battles at almost every level, from governor to U.S. Senate, to Congress and the Legislature. Some of those races could be markers of the way voters are moving in both parties and how much a party endorsement really matters. Peter breaks down the basics in the more competitive races across the state from the Flanagan/Craig DFL Senate race to the Lindell/Demuth/Qualls GOP governor's race. In the Legislature, there are 11 incumbents facing primary challengers. In congressional races, maybe the most watched is the 2nd District, where three current and former legislators are battling it out on the DFL side for the party nomination.

If you haven’t been following each race closely and are trying to determine which candidates align with you most, check out MPR News’ voter guide. You can find the build your ballot voters guide here. Enter your address and you can see the candidates that will be on your local ballot. Many of the candidates answered a survey about why they are running, their experience and their top issues. The guide includes candidates for federal, statewide and legislative offices.

A lot of votes are already in. As of Friday, the Secretary of State's Office reported that 173,968 absentee, mail and in-person early votes had already been put in and marked as accepted. That's more than any other midterm. It's not yet clear how much of that is from people who might not have otherwise voted. In any case, it's a sign that we'll have a decent turnout as primaries go.

As the federal government rolls back election support for states, some voters are wondering: Will Minnesota’s elections be secure and will there be any federal interference? Secretary of State Steve Simon has been raising concerns about the lack of federal election security briefings and cybersecurity testing since President Donald Trump resumed office. But how big of a deal is that? Elections experts say elections officials are still perfectly capable of running the midterms smoothly, but the strained federal-state relationship is putting pressure on an already under-resourced system. Cait breaks down the federal government’s 180 on election security support, why some voters are concerned about federal agents showing up to polling places and what Minnesota voters can expect this election cycle.

Not all campaign contributions this time of year are cash for candidates and groups to use at will. In-kind donations also fuel the political machine, from canvassers going door to door to food chipped in for hungry volunteers or fundraisers themselves. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Leadership Fund, essentially the political arm of the business lobby group, listed off a bunch of four-figure donations last week that weren’t of the cash kind. They were for Timberwolves basketball tickets and Wild hockey suite tickets, boat cruises, private factory tours, airline tickets and, temptingly, beach vacations or vacation rental stays. What’s the point? Those items can be turned INTO cash when the chamber hosts an upcoming auction during a fundraising events. The goal of course would be to fetch more than the presumed value and use those proceeds for ads, mailers and other communication to influence upcoming elections. The chamber is expected to play in key legislative races, as it has in the past. 

Another Walz cabinet member is headed for the exit. Commerce Commissioner Grace Arnold has departed. Her exit was announced Friday and is part of a wind down of the Walz administration that will occur between now and January. Even if a DFLer wins, expect new faces in new places. Arnold’s next gig outside of government wasn’t disclosed. She had been in charge of the Commerce Department since 2021. She’ll be replaced in the job by Julia Dreier, who has been deputy commissioner for the last five years. She has experience in insurance regulation, health rate reviews and other areas that are central to the agency’s mission.