Earlier in the month, President Donald Trump warned voters that democratic socialists — extreme, crazed, lunatics, he called them — were threatening to transform America into “a communist country.” This week, a smiling Trump patted on the shoulder one of the nation’s best known democratic socialists, shook his hand, and said he was “off to a start” to being a great mayor of the country’s largest city.
“A sisterhood” is how Sen. Amy Klobuchar describes the overlap between her and Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth, referring to the Minnesota governor nominees’ joint history of overcoming breast cancer. Dana Ferguson spoke at length with both leaders
about their diagnoses and how they approached their treatment. The life-altering experience is one that both candidates say makes them particularly attuned to early cancer detection, prevention and treatment. Both are now cancer free. Demuth said she wants to make screening for cancer more widely available, while Klobuchar said she wants to boost medical research in the state, add new tax credits to help Minnesotans afford insurance and fund early detection programs. Advocacy groups say either candidate could be an ally for cancer patients. We hope you’ll listen to the candidates in their own words on the radio today and watch for the video to post later in the week.
Today we’ll get a peek at the first batch of state campaign finance reports since mid-summer and as many outside groups are amping up activity. Here’s a bit of what we’re watching for and will analyze in coming days:
Has the governor’s race gap widened or narrowed:
Democratic nominee Amy Klobuchar has lapped the field in fundraising and available money but the August primary crystalized the race. Republican nominee Lisa Demuth has no doubt scooped up a lot since that primary victory; we know she got a giant infusion through the public subsidy program of nearly $1.3 million thanks to Klobuchar opting out of that program. In the prior reports, Klobuchar had about $4.5 million in available cash compared to $456,000 for Demuth.
How much have outside groups deployed: Political action committees that are distinct from the candidates have an advantage in that they can raise unlimited amounts from their donors. The new-this-year Restore Sanity PAC, a GOP entity promoting Demuth, has pushed millions into the race on the strength of a very small universe of donors. The Alliance for a Better Minnesota, a DFL mainstay, has begun to do the same in top races on Minnesota’s ballot.
Who is spending in legislative races and where:
We won’t get candidate reports for House and Senate candidates this round. But we will get a strong sense of where the parties and their aligned outside groups are competing as both angle for legislative majorities. The caucuses and several groups will spend millions to try to influence the outcomes, with some individual races likely to attract seven figures of attention. A few we’re watching are ABM (DFL), the Minnesota Family Prosperity Project (DFL), Advance Minnesota (R) and a constellation of GOP groups with the same chair/treasurer: Build Minnesota, Common Sense Minnesota, Empower Minnesota, Minnesotans for Justice and Renew Minnesota.
Who are donors betting on in the legislative majority chase: All four party caucuses have had strong years so far in fundraising. That’s partly due to the extremely close nature of the Legislature right now with a tied House and one-seat Senate split (as a whole, there are 101 DFLers and 100 Republicans). Party caucuses play a dominant role in swing-seat races. Also pay attention to the state parties because, as we’ve noted, a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows for closer spending coordination with candidates.
Speaking of money, Republican U.S. Senate candidates including Michele Tafoya got a fundraising boost this week from a former president. According to the New York Times, George W. Bush headlined an event last night in Dallas benefitting Maintain the Majority
, a new joint fundraising committee supporting candidates defending Republican-held seats in Maine, Ohio, Alaska and Iowa and looking to flip seats in Michigan and New Hampshire. An email sent to attendees on Sunday and viewed by the Times said that Tafoya, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Minnesota, was a late addition to the event.
Attorney General Keith Ellison and his opponent, Republican attorney Ron Schutz, traded jabs in separate appearances at the Minnesota Star Tribune’s North Star Summit yesterday. While the pair didn’t take the stage together, they each sat for back-to-back interviews with politics editor Briana Bierschbach. Questions focused on federal immigration enforcement efforts, fraud and how each candidate would respond to President Donald Trump. A
recent KSTP/Survey USA poll put Schutz slightly ahead of Ellison in polling for the first time in this race. (psst - MPR News is hosting an attorney general debate on Oct. 2, stay tuned!)
Gov. Tim Walz also appeared at the Star Tribune’s event and took responsibility for fraud that festered on his watch. In the interview before a live audience, Walz said fraud should have been detected and stopped sooner. But as Ryan Faircloth writes
, Walz said there were no public officials enriched by the fraud, using the White House ballroom project and other allegations of corruption in Washington as a basis of comparison. “It puts it into perspective,” he said.”It doesn’t make it right.” Fraud will be part of the historical writeup of the eight Walz years but the governor said it shouldn’t be the one that defines him. As he’s said before, Walz said he’d rather “eat glass” than seek public office again.
Yesterday marked the last meeting of Minnesota’s executive council and state Board of Investment with its current roster ahead of an election that will land new faces on it. Many board members, such as Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and State Auditor Julie Blaha, are not seeking reelection in their current roles and the November races for attorney general and secretary of state could provide further shakeups. The current members of the board have experienced quite a tumultuous run — from affirming pandemic-era executive orders to navigating calls for the state to divest from Israeli companies over the war in Gaza.
Former state Senate Minority Leader David Hann has been named Minnesota state co-chair for U.S. Term Limits. The D.C.-based organization is pushing for term limits at all levels of government, particularly for Congress. “Too often, Washington has become dominated by career politicians who remain in office for decades,” said Hann, a four-term state senator, in a news release. Hann is also a prior Minnesota Republican Party chair and ran for governor and U.S. Senate during his time in the political spotlight.
Support trusted news and information from our team of experienced journalists with your donation today. MPR News relies on your support to deliver free and accessible news to our whole community.
