Good morning. We’re inside of 100 days to the general election. That meter is at 99, with 15 to go until Minnesota’s primary.

Tune in today for the final head-to-head debate in Minnesota’s DFL Senate primary. It’ll be on MPR News over the air, streamed online and video broadcast live at 11 a.m. Go to MPRNews.org if you won’t be by the radio. Angie Craig and Peggy Flanagan are locked in an intense, expensive race for the party nomination. They’ve debated once before and will appear alongside a few other candidates at FarmFest early next month. But this will be the final time it’s just them to describe their visions, counter the ideas of the other and speak at length about why they’re better positioned to carry the party mantle into November. The seat, of course, is open because of Sen. Tina Smith’s upcoming retirement. Republicans also have an Aug. 11 primary decision to make, but didn’t respond to our offer to host the leading candidates. 

Ahead of the debate, Peter Cox looked at some areas where Peggy Flanagan and Angie Craig have diverged. Differences in some policy stances are subtle. But there are other areas where the candidates tangle over what’s practical versus what’s a big swing that could be tough to achieve. Some of that is sure to be on display during today’s debate.

Gov. Tim Walz says a special session may indeed happen and that economic help for areas near the BWCA wildfires should be considered. Dana caught up with the governor on Friday at an event celebrating the opening of the sustainable aviation fuel blending facility at Flint Hills Pine Bend (more on that later). Walz said he’s heading up to the region today and said a special session is still on the table . “It’s something that the Legislature, I would encourage them to consider what does a relief package look like?” Walz said. “We haven't done anything with that yet, but I think that's something to put out there. There’s a lot of economic damage.” Legislative leaders were also on hand for the event and said they were open to working on a proposal. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy said a proposal to issue relief for businesses and communities affected by the federal government’s immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota should also be part of the conversation. “We should think about economic relief. But from my perspective, it is important to think about the economic relief for parts of the state that have been injured, and we were not able to get across the line economic relief as a result of the injuries caused by (Operation) Metro Surge, and we want to talk about that as well,” Murphy said. House Speaker Lisa Demuth said more information is needed before a special session could come together.

It was an unexpected mix of characters lined up to mark the launch of the sustainable aviation fuel blending facility on Friday. Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad, House Speaker Lisa Demuth, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy and state tax committee chairs Sen. Ann Rest and Rep. Greg Davids were there to toot their own horns for passing proposals that paved the way for the new facility. The state and federal lawmakers pushed for tax credits to encourage the speedy buildout of a pipeline that gets more of the non-petroleum based fuels into airplanes in an effort to reduce harmful emissions and support farmers. “This is an achievement that few places in the world have attained, and it's the latest proof that Minnesota's innovative approach to SAF is not only working, but it's leading,” said Peter Frosch, CEO of Greater MSP. Several officials threw a lot of credit to Rest for getting the credits off the ground. The retiring senator got an extended applause after telling the crowd there that they were “pioneers” trailblazing into the new industry. Rest also shared that she’ll be throwing the first pitch at Thursday’s Twins game, which elicited some feedback about proper training from her colleagues.

Amy Klobuchar says healthcare affordability will be a motivating issue for voters this fall after millions lost access to insurance through the big GOP tax and spending bill passed last summer. During a news conference yesterday, she rolled out her plan for making healthcare more affordable. At St. Paul Corner Drug, the candidate for governor said her top focus will be on stabilizing hospitals facing potential closure due to financial challenges. She said she would pursue a state tax credit like the one provided through the Affordable Care Act to help people afford their health insurance. Enhanced subsidies expired and Minnesotans are seeing higher insurance rates, with some opting to drop coverage. “Once you don't do anything to help people afford insurance on the individual market, and they then don't have insurance, millions of people have lost their insurance all over the nation in the last year,” she said. Klobuchar said the result would be more demand on emergency rooms for care as people postpone appointments. Her plan also includes steps to bring more transparency to medical billing and grow the health care workforce. She noted that she’s looking to models that have worked in other states — under both Republican and Democratic control — to bring down the costs of care. Republican Party Chair Alex Plechash responded that it was more talk than action and “what they have come to expect from her: task forces, coalitions, government websites, talking points and press conferences.”

How responsible is GOP gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth for the feds repeatedly trying to withhold Medicaid money from Minnesota? The ACLU is trying to find out. Matthew Blake of MinnPost reports that the ACLU sued the federal Department of Health and Human Services last week for allegedly stonewalling the group’s Freedom of Information Act request over why the federal government tried to freeze millions of Minnesota Medicaid dollars back in January. The question is, was funding threatened for legitimate reasons or political motivations? Officially, the federal government cited concerns about non-citizen childcare recipients. But President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance focused on those running the childcare centers, citing Nick Shirley’s December video that purported to show Somali-run daycare centers with no children, which Lisa Demuth helped promote shortly after announcing her candidacy for governor. Minnesota said those claims were baseless. The White House has repeatedly attacked Minnesota Somalis, the vast majority of whom are U.S. citizens. The ACLU is seeking all communications between HHS and Demuth. Last week, the federal government threatened Minnesota Medicaid funding again.

Ken Martin’s rocky tenure atop the Democratic National Committee has led to tense times as the party looks toward the midterm election. The New York Times reported yesterday, citing sources, that Martin has been looked into by DNC human resources over his treatment of staff. Others are worried about the party’s financial standing. Some vendors were reportedly told to wait to bill the party for services. Martin, a former DFL Party chair, has won praise from some state party leaders for sending money downstream to help them make their own case to voters in their midst. Martin became chair in early 2025 and has had to respond to doubters of his leadership ever since. Martin didn’t respond to interview requests for the story and, according to the Times, has grown impatient with leaks within the DNC.

President Trump has pushed for death penalty cases, but his administration ultimately let Vance Boelter plead out to avoid the death penalty. Jeff Day and Sarah Nelson at the Star Tribune detail the Trump administration’s public push for the death penalty and how family members of Mark Hortman, who was murdered by Boelter last summer along with his wife, former House Speaker Melissa Hortman, wanted Boelter’s case to go to trial and wanted him executed. During Boelter’s sentencing hearing last week, members of the Hortman family accused the Justice Department of going easy on Boelter because Mark and Melissa were Democrats. But as Day and Nelson explain, a surprising connection to the Luigi Mangione case led the Justice Department to stop pursuing the death penalty for Boelter, according to the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office.