Good morning. It’s debate day again in St. Paul – this time with focus on an open-seat congressional race.

Republican U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad and his DFL challenger, Jake Johnson, debated on two southern Minnesota television stations last night. The two are running in the 1st Congressional District , which Finstad has represented since 2022. As Molly Castle Work reports, the two differed sharply on President Donald Trump's trade policy, with Finstad defending Trump. "The tariff lever that the president used brought new partners to the table,” Finstad said. “We are seeing record exports in ethanol, in dairy, in soybean oil, and we are seeing it now in the market." Johnson fired back that the tariffs are one of the biggest failures of the current administration. "Since the tariffs were implemented, it's cost the average family here in southern Minnesota over $2,000." One thing the two have in common: both met their wives while riding the school bus in elementary school. Finstad met his wife in second grade and Johnson in third grade. You can see video of the debate on KTTC.

Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District is the only one of the state's eight House districts that is open this year, which guarantees a new face will be part of the delegation next year. It’ll be either state Sen. Eric Pratt or former DFL state Sen. Matt Little, who meet today in an MPR News debate. One of them will replace DFL Rep. Angie Craig, who has held the seat since 2019, but chose to seek the U.S. Senate nomination this year instead of running for reelection. The district covers the southern metro suburbs, including Eagan, Burnsville, Apple Valley and Lakeville, and includes all of Scott, LeSueur, and Dakota Counties. The debate moderated by Catharine Richert begins at noon and will air on Politics Friday and the mpnews.org site.

The Minnesota Secretary of State’s race isn’t often top of mind for voters, but the Trump administration’s focus on the state’s elections has renewed attention on what could otherwise be a relatively sleepy race. Secretary of State Steve Simon, a DFLer, is seeking a fourth term as Republican Tad Jude, Libertarian candidate Chip Tangen and the Green Party’s Seth Kuhl-Stennes try to unseat him. As Ellie Roth reports , this time around, candidates for the office are grappling with something new — how to approach the Secretary of State’s relationship with the Department of Justice. Elections run by Minnesota and other blue states have been harshly criticized by the Trump administration and last year, Simon was sued when the state refused to hand the federal government private information on the state’s voter rolls. “We need someone who will stand up to any and all who will unlawfully attempt to interfere with the freedom to vote,” Simon said. “That means my own party. That means the current White House.” But Jude said Simon has politicized the office, and if elected, he would start by having a working relationship with the Justice Department. 

After a series of shootings in the Twin Cities suburbs, Republican candidate for governor Lisa Demuth and her running mate Ryan Wilson met with law enforcement, education and other officials yesterday in Eden Prairie. The event was closed to press but in a news conference that followed, Demuth said the state needs to do more to combat crime in the wake of the shooting in Eden Prairie near a high school football game, another near an Edina church and a day after federal law enforcement announced they’d apprehended a man alleged to have plotted a shooting at Mall of America. “What we are hearing across the state of Minnesota is that enough is enough,” Demuth said. “I think what has come here in the state of Minnesota is almost a toxicity when it comes to compassion, not calling crime out, or departing down on sentences, or not wanting to hold people accountable. That's why we find ourselves where we are today.” She pointed to her public safety platform that would require communities to prioritize local government aid payments on public safety over other needs like infrastructure. Demuth also called for enhancing penalties for repeat violent offenders.

Attorney General Keith Ellison is calling for stricter gun regulations. At a campaign press conference Thursday, Ellison said he wants his office to continue gun violence prevention efforts. His office is currently suing the gun manufacturer Glock, alleging that the company sells semi-automatic handguns that can easily be turned into illegal machine guns. “I am a hunter myself. I go hunting, and I don't think there's anything wrong with it,” Ellison said. “I don't even think there's anything wrong with responsible gun ownership, but it's just out of control, and we need to have much more regulation than we have now so we can save some lives.” Ellison is running for reelection against Republican Ron Schutz. In a statement, Schutz said public safety must be a priority at all levels of government, and noted that his campaign has the backing of several police groups. 

President Trump weighed in with a searing social media post that portrays Minnesota as in chaos and suggests federal intervention is warranted. In a Truth Social post Thursday Trump wrote that “the once great state of Minnesota is being taken over by Somali immigrants,” blaming them for violence, murder and mayhem “all over the state.” Trump called on the people of Minnesota to “fight back.” He called Gov. Tim Walz an “incompetent thief” then wrote that Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey “must immediately ask for Federal help–and leave the rest to us!” He didn’t describe what form that would take. The post could be an attempt to rally the GOP base weeks from an election but it could also serve as a reminder to voters who rose up in opposition to the federal immigration agent surge earlier this year.

There is less than a week left for people to apply to be the first Office of the Inspector General head honcho. So far, 17 applications have come in for people who think they fit the bill. The deadline to apply is Oct. 15, according to a job posting. The Legislature created the new watchdog entity this spring as part of its response to fraud in government programs. The entity is designed to have wide rein to examine spending, investigate irregularities and recommend changes. The minimum credentials are pretty lofty for the $198,000 per year job, which might help weed out some of the applications. A special legislative commission will review the applicants and recommend finalists to the governor. The governor will nominate a director who will then need to gain Senate confirmation. If all goes according to plan, the office will be up and running early next year. Given that it will involve dozens more hires, there could be many more months before the Office of the Inspector General is doing the actual inspecting.

DWI troubles at the state Capitol extend beyond lawmakers caught up in recent police stops after a staffer now faces a felony charge in an alleged drunken driving incident. Wilson Lee, a committee administrator for the DFL caucus, was pulled over by police in Maplewood on Oct. 4. According to the criminal complaint, Lee had trouble with field sobriety tests and at one point tried to go back to his vehicle to retrieve his Minnesota House of Representatives badge, telling the officer “I’m a law abiding citizen and I’m good, you know what I mean?” Lee allegedly had a .197 blood alcohol content, court documents say. He’s facing felony-level DWI charges, following two prior convictions of DWI in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin, the complaint says. MPR News sought comment from a DFL House spokesperson earlier this week. On Thursday, the spokesperson said, “We do not comment on personnel matters,” in response to questions about Lee’s current employment status. On Wednesday, KARE 11 reported on released dash cam footage from the DWI stop of state GOP Rep. Elliott Engen in which state Rep. Walter Hudson was a passenger and carrying a firearm. He’s caught on video saying an officer cut him “a major break.” Only Engen faced charges.