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The 2026 primary is now officially in the books after the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected Mike Lindell’s request to force an expansive recount of his loss. The rulings Saturday in a pair of cases brought by Lindell and his running mate were resolved on different grounds but result in the same outcome: Lisa Demuth’s 45,000 vote win over Lindell will stand. He wanted all 1.1 million ballots cast on Aug. 11 to be retallied for each candidate listed, not just he and Demuth. In fighting the state-approved recount plan he missed a deadline to file and pay for one. The high court ruled that the state’s plan was sufficiently crafted and approved. In the other case, justices said Phillip Parrish waited too long to raise objections about voting equipment he didn’t like and it won’t disturb the canvassed results for him either.

Primary results only go so far in predicting who could prevail in November, but there are some helpful figures to draw from. Let’s take the race for governor. If you look back at the general election win totals of the six prior races this century, the victor has attracted anywhere from 919,232 votes (2010) to 1,393,096 votes (2018). The average win tally was 1,106,972 votes. Why are we telling you this? Because we know what DFL nominee Amy Klobuchar and GOP nominee Lisa Demuth got in their August primary wins and you can say with near certainty that those are votes locked in for them for November. Klobuchar won 615,040 votes (about 90 percent of all DFL votes); Demuth got 179,683 votes (a tad above 43 percent of GOP votes). That means Klobuchar is more than halfway to the average victory total while Demuth is only about 16 percent there. Many Republicans will come home to Demuth but not all will. It helps us get a sense of how far down the field each candidate is with about nine weeks to go. As always, centrist or independent voters will loom large because neither candidate can win with base voters alone.

DFL governor candidate Amy Klobuchar committed to signing gun restriction legislation if it reaches her desk. Bills to restrict ammunition clips and high-powered firearms stalled last year after the Annunciation school shooting. Klobuchar was asked about what she would do if the bills are rekindled next year and she’s governor. “My opponent stopped the vote, would not allow a vote in the House on that gun safety package,” Klobuchar said on WCCO TV’s Sunday show with Esme Murphy . “As governor I will, yes, stand up for hunting and angling and outdoor recreation in Minnesota but I will allow for that vote and I will sign that bill for gun safety.” Klobuchar was also asked about fraud, tariffs and mining during the State Fair appearance. Meanwhile, the pro-Demuth political group known as Restore Sanity is back up with television ads after going big in the primary and taking a pause, according to ad time purchase records on file with TV stations. A Wisconsin manufacturing mogul has been the primary contributor to the multimillion-dollar ad effort to boost Demuth.

Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, a high-ranking congressional Republican was on a Sunday national political show talking cryptocurrency and the federal deficit. Emmer seldom grants Minnesota interviews. He was on a Fox News program. He told the hosts that Republicans would focus on federal spending after the midterm elections this year. Emmer says the economy is a winning issue for his and President Donald Trump's party despite higher prices and falling consumer confidence. Emmer also said Republicans would rein in deficit spending. “It has been an irresponsible handling of funds, I would argue for decades. And the president, Donald Trump, and House Republicans are absolutely committed, as I believe our Senate colleagues are too, to reducing that debt and the deficit.” The Congressional Budget Office expects the 2026 deficit to hit $2.1 trillion dollars — up from the forecast $1.9 trillion in February. Emmer blamed the media and others for downplaying Republican chances to maintain a Washington trifecta. “I like our odds,” he said. 

Attorney General Keith Ellison announced an oversight deal Friday that allows the North Memorial-Sanford Health merger to go through. Ellison and the health systems have agreed to a 10-year oversight agreement that includes $600 million in investments in North Memorial’s Maple Grove and Robbinsdale hospitals and maintaining the Level 1 trauma center in Robbinsdale for at least 10 years. The oversight agreement also states that the combined health system “shall not reduce the scope of reproductive health care and gender-affirming care services” at its Minnesota locations as of the closing date of the merger, “to the extent consistent with applicable law and regulations.” The agreement follows a review by the attorney general’s office of the merger. Our health reporter Erica Zurek was at the Capitol for Friday’s announcement, check out her reporting here.

A federal judge is considering whether to force the federal government to provide more evidence against the 15 anti-ICE protesters charged with conspiracy. Our Jon Collins was in the courtroom at the Minneapolis federal courthouse last Thursday as defense attorneys asked Magistrate Judge David Schultz for more federal evidence to see if the prosecutions are politically motivated. Defendants want all Homeland Security reports on Minnesota unions, nonprofits, protesters and activists, plus details of Operation Keyhole and Operation Puppet Master. The federal government has previously had to drop charges against political opponents. Prosecutors said those materials aren’t necessary for the defense cases and the request doesn’t meet the standards required to justify overriding prosecutors’ charging decisions.

State Rep. Elliott Engen was sentenced to a year of probation for a DWI from a traffic stop earlier this year. Engen, a Republican who represents an area around White Bear Lake, was pulled over around 3:30 am on March 27. Police pulled him over for speeding, and said he had a headlight out and an expired registration. Engen initially told police he wasn’t drinking, but later admitted to having beers earlier in the night. He had a 0.13 BAC, according to the criminal complaint. His passenger, GOP Rep. Walter Hudson, was not charged with anything, though the two faced scrutiny from DFL House members for possibly drinking during Capitol working hours. Engen was sentenced Friday to one year of probation, with a stayed 30-day jail sentence. He has to attend a MADD victim impact panel and pay a $236 fine. Engen had been a candidate for Minnesota state auditor earlier this year, but ended his campaign. He briefly considered running for his current seat again, but decided against it.

There’s a looming federal hemp ban, what does that mean for Minnesota’s booming hemp industry? Consumers might lump all THC or CBD products in the same bucket, but lawmakers have come up with complicated legal definitions of different products based on exactly how the CBD or THC are derived. That matters to determine what’s legal and what’s not, nationally and state-by-state. The federal government is set to ban most hemp-derived cannabinoid products on Nov. 12. Even though Minnesota has its own hemp laws and hemp-derived THC edibles and drinks will still be available, a lot of hemp businesses could close because of a much higher federal tax burden. Matt DeLong at the Star Tribune breaks down the whole hemp saga: how Congress has flip-flopped, how Minnesota’s hemp industry works, a last-ditch effort led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar to delay the federal ban, and what’s likely to happen come November.

The tradition of political art at the State Fair continues. Last year, homages to murdered former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her family were everywhere at the fair. This year, the theme dominating art at the fair is Minnesotan resistance to the federal immigration agent surge. Our arts reporter Alex Cipolle spoke with several of the artists who focused their work on the anti-ICE theme. Drew Arrieta created a collage titled “Signs of Refusal” that’s made up of photos of more than 100 stop signs in Minneapolis defaced to read “STOP ICE.” “Operation Metro Surge is so deeply entrenched and within everyone's spirit in Minnesota,” said Arrieta. “We're still continuing to move through that, and art is a really beautiful way to do that.” Check out the artworks for yourself here.