Good morning. Minnesota, you're up next.

The GOP primary for governor is focused on Mike Lindell for the moment, as the state GOP openly questions his residency and Lindell announced he’s stepping down from his company to focus on the race. It was a newsy day for Mike Lindell . GOP Chairman Alex Plechash sent a letter to the Minnesota Secretary of State asking for clarification on the residency requirements for governor, naming Lindell specifically. Since Lindell got the endorsement of President Donald Trump, the party has increased attacks on the Republican candidate. “There’s an attack by my party,” Lindell told MPR Tuesday. He said he’s been a resident since last August, which he said is more than the one year residency minimum to run. “Alex Plechash should step down. He's done nothing but ruin the Minnesota GOP,” Lindell said. On top of that, Lindell also announced Tuesday he’s stepping down from My Pillow, the company he started in 2004, in order to focus on the race. “I want to go 100% all in for Minnesota,” he said. “I don't want anyone out there thinking I'm dividing my time.” 

Lisa Demuth is drawing sharper contrasts with Lindell the closer we get to the primary. In an interview with MPR All Things Considered host Clay Masters that aired yesterday, Demuth said she believes she will prevail on Aug. 11 despite polling that shows Lindell ahead. The polls also show a large pool of undecided Republicans. Demuth said her proven track record as a top GOP leader at the Capitol will put her over the top. She said she won’t be held back by the things that Lindell is in a general election matchup. “I have always paid my property taxes, my business tax. I don't have lawsuits against me, and so I come into the race as a Republican candidate without that type of baggage,” she said. Listen to the interview here. 

It’s unclear why U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber said U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer is “fighting for his life” during a Farmfest forum when the high-ranking Republican isn’t believed to be seriously ill. Stauber made the comment when defending Emmer’s absence at the annual agricultural event in southwestern Minnesota. Stauber first said Emmer was dealing with a personal concern. Later, after DFL congressional candidate Doug Chapin told the crowd he would show up, unlike Emmer, Stauber said in his closing remarks, “You have no idea what Congressman Emmer is dealing with right now,” Stauber said in a serious tone. “If you did, you would have never made that comment. He is fighting for his damn life today." Stauber left the event without taking questions from reporters about what the comment meant and his office issued a statement later that walked back the severity of what Stauber said to a roomful of farmers at a public event. Emmer’s office didn’t directly offer clarification about what was wrong but shared a link to a social media post from a reporter based in Washington, D.C., who said he’d spoken to Emmer and he did not seem gravely ill. Emmer has been recuperating from a surgeries this spring that had him moving about Washington in a wheelchair at times.

The panel and another featuring several congressional candidates were the main-stage events yesterday and today brings the feature events in panel discussions in the races for governor and U.S. senator. Dana spotted several candidates for statewide offices making the rounds at Farmfest yesterday ahead of those events and she’ll be on the ground again today in Morgan for the discussions. It’s likely the last time candidates in the races will be on the same stage ahead of the primary election. Republicans Kendall Qualls, Lisa Demuth and Mike Lindell will share the stage this morning with DFL gubernatorial candidate Amy Klobuchar. Later in the day Democrats Angie Craig and Peggy Flanagan, along with Republicans Michele Tafoya and Royce White will participate in a U.S. Senate panel discussion. Adam Schwarze, the Republican party's endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate, has a booth just down the row from the Wick Building where the discussions will be held, but as of Tuesday night he was still not listed as a participant. Schwarze said he was working with Farmfest leaders to work around a rule requiring a certain threshold of support in public polling to participate.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins made the rounds at Farmfest yesterday and urged ag producers for patience as they face higher input costs. She told a crowd that new global trade deals, increased domestic fertilizer production and biofuel growth would bring eventual relief. "As we work to bring the cost of inputs down, so that your bottom line can get back to being normal instead of just surviving, moving back to thriving. Instead of farming, as many people say, 'Brooke, I don't want to farm for a government check. I just want to farm for a fair deal.' That is what we're working towards,” Rollins said. She said USDA is granting farmers two more months to pay crop insurance premiums to help with their finances. And she also defended federal changes reducing the pool of people eligible for food stamps. “For those of us that love work and celebrate work and want people to work and not be on food stamps, it's a pretty big win when we've moved 5 million people off of food stamps, y'all,” Rollins said, pointing to the new work requirement to receive federal nutrition assistance. Advocates for hunger relief warn the new standards will deprive people of an important lifeline. County officials say the altered rules add administrative burdens. State Sen. Aric Putnam, DFL-St. Cloud, chairs the Senate Agriculture, Broadband and Rural Development Committee. He said the comments from the country’s top ag official about patience wouldn’t sit well with Minnesota farmers. “Minnesota farmers already are patient. They already are resilient. Telling them to kind of like suck it up while we screw things up worse, I don't appreciate that argument at all,” he said.

The Michigan Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate is still being decided and the vote count could continue well into the day. After that, all eyes shift to Minnesota as the party’s identity project goes on. This will go down as the most expensive Democratic primary for U.S. Senate that Minnesota has seen. To date, the leading DFL candidates have spent at least $15 million from their own campaign funds but likely far more given those numbers only count spending through June 30 for Angie Craig and Peggy Flanagan. But their outside-group allies have to document spending more often and those figures are also sizable: At least $13 million by pro-Craig groups and about $2.5 million by the leading pro-Flanagan group. There are other entities spending money that’s harder to track. It will be easy to see this primary race topping $40 million by the time all spending is accounted for, maybe considerably more. The Republican race has been sleepier, with former TV sportscaster Michele Tafoya the top spender on her side. There is a new Republican-aligned group spending on behalf of GOP-endorsed candidate Adam Schwarze. The Sheepdog PAC is sending text messages and airing television ads holding him up as the right choice for Republicans. Those ads just went up so it’s difficult to tell if they’ll sink in by the Aug. 11 primary.

Meanwhile, one of the big state-level spenders on the Democratic team is coming off the sidelines. The Alliance for a Better Minnesota has now reserved TV ad time from the week of Minnesota’s primary (the day after) through the Nov. 3 election. The group usually comes in heavy after the GOP picks its candidate to help define the opponent. ABM has in the past gotten deeply involved in legislative races, too, but its main focus has been on governor over the years. At last check, ABM had $740,000 in reserve but we’ve seen before that the group can scoop up significant money in a hurry from aligned feeder organizations. Advance Minnesota, which as we’ve noted is shaping up as a leading GOP fund focused on legislative races, padded its account this week with another $250,000 from the Republican State Legislative Committee. Advance Minnesota was sitting on nearly $2.7 million as of mid-July.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon says despite conflict between states and the federal government over how to prepare for and conduct elections, he’s confident the Aug. 11 primary will go smoothly. Secretary Simon spoke with MPR News’ Kelly Gordon to discuss the primary election and how the state is preparing for it. Simon highlighted a state law that requires cities and counties to publicly test vote tabulating equipment ahead of counting votes. If you’re interested in attending but missed the tests so far, tabulators will also be tested ahead of the November election. Simon said staff try to trick the tabulators during the tests. “They'll overvote, they'll crease, they'll put stray marks on there to see if everything adds up, and unless it performs perfectly, it is not allowed for use in the upcoming election.” Simon also responded to the Trump administration suing dozens of states, including Minnesota, to access their voter data. Simon said “it’s very clear” that federal and state law does not entitle the federal government to that information. “They're asking not just for public stuff like name and address; they're asking for social security information, driver's license information.” So far, courts have sided with the states refusing to hand over voter data. Check out the full conversation here.

One Minnesota city wants to return to paper voter rolls and override a county mandate to use an electronic system. The Minnesota Supreme Court will weigh in. At the end of May, the small city of Oak Grove petitioned the state’s high court for permission to use paper voter rolls in the November midterm election. The Legislature first authorized electronic voter rosters in 2014. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission says they streamline the voter check-in process, reduce wait times, improve accuracy and allow for real-time updates to voter registration. A brief filed on behalf of the League of Women Voters for the Oak Grove case says league members who have served as election judges in Anoka County have seen polling place wait times drop because of electronic poll books. Also, “If a voter arrives at the wrong precinct, the election judge learns this immediately and can print a receipt directing the voter to the correct polling place — something that was impossible under a paper-only system,” the brief reads. Those who prefer a paper system argue paper can’t be hacked and cities should be free to make their own decisions. Allison Kite at the Star Tribune breaks down the case and the competing views on election integrity. Oak Grove’s reply brief (which replies to briefs filed by Secretary of State Steven Simon and Anoka County officials) is due today. A hearing has not yet been scheduled.