Good morning. The Legislature is on spring break. A programming note: We’ll have newsletters through Wednesday, catch our breath and then be back to our regular publication schedule on Tuesday, April 7.
A third-party candidate for Minnesota governor has dropped out of the race. Mike Newcome, who jumped into the race late last year with a large infusion of personal cash to kickstart his campaign, has ended his campaign
. Newcome terminated his campaign account last week after pausing his campaign in February. Newcome had been hoping to play Jesse Ventura in the 2026 race, breaking through the two-party grip on state politics to become governor. But the Forward Independence Party candidate, according to a Facebook post, said campaign fundraising was drying up after Operation Metro Surge hardened the state’s politics and “many voters retreated into partisan corners.” His campaign refunded some donations, including a little less than half the $200,000 he had seeded into his own campaign.
A second Republican lawmaker faces questions and potential scrutiny over his presence at a colleague’s arrest on suspicion of impaired driving last week. When Rep. Elliott Engen was stopped in White Bear Lake, fellow GOP Rep. Walter Hudson was in the car. He showed signs of alcohol consumption and was in possession of a firearm. Hudson is a concealed carry permit holder, which carries possible misdemeanor charges if he was deemed to be intoxicated.
Michelle Griffith of the Minnesota Reformer reports
that Hudson admitted to “poor decisions” and said he commended White Bear Lake police for a professional response. An open bottle of alcohol was found in a child car seat in the rear of the vehicle. A second, identified passenger was in the vehicle. According to the police report the Reformer obtained, Engen told officers he drank two beers between 11 and 11:30 p.m. The House had been in session until late Thursday and the two lawmakers participated in that session.
A top legislative leader says it’s imperative that the Legislature tackle funding for Hennepin County Medical Center this year. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy told MPR News' Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer that the public, Level 1 trauma hospital can’t go under
. It has dropped services and staff positions. "I think this is an imperative for us, that Hennepin County Medical Center is a statewide asset,” Murphy, a St. Paul DFLer said. “And if you have an accident on your farm, your tractor turns over, you're in a car accident, you're in a fire. Hennepin County Medical Center is where you're going to go to get highly skilled emergency care, trauma care, life saving care and everyday care." Hospital leaders have asked for a Hennepin County sales tax hike to ease some of the financial hardship. Lawmakers will consider that request and other possible funding plans this legislative session. Murphy also told Wurzer that she’s worried about a messy
end to the Legislative session with the tied House stalling many policy priorities for Democrats. “The tie in the House is concerning for me, in that they are moving some things, but many issues I think of importance to Minnesotans are lying on the cutting room table because of the tie and not being able to move things forward,” Murphy said. “I think the end of the session is going to be challenging.”
The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Minnesota over policies that allow transgender athletes to play on teams consistent with their gender. The DOJ contends Minnesota’s education department and the Minnesota State High School League are violating Title IX
by maintaining policies that allow transgender athletes to compete on teams consistent with their gender rather than their biological sex at birth. In a statement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the Trump Administration would, “always fight for the safety and civil rights of women and girls.” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Monday called the lawsuit a “sad attempt to get attention over something that’s already been in litigation for months.” The Trump administration has already investigated Minnesota over its policies regarding trans athletes and accused the state of violating civil rights laws. Last year, Ellison’s office sued the Trump administration over its
attempts to ban transgender athletes from female sports teams.
Divided government offered nominal savings for entities that pay lobbyists in Minnesota
. Fresh figures from the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board show a slight downtick in spending by lobbyist principals in 2025 — with a tied Minnesota House and closely divided Senate — compared with the two years prior when one party held all the power. It’s still a lot of money: $95 million reported in 2025; that’s lower than the $97.8 million in 2024 and $96.3 million in 2023. One big caveat: The tally is for lobbying reports filed through March 16, and there were a couple dozen entities that didn’t get their data in. The amounts include the compensation to lobbyists and the costs incurred to support the activity. It’s also worth noting that the lobbying is on
legislative activity, public utility regulator lobbying and metro government units like the Metropolitan Council. The Capitol-centered lobbying was just shy of $80 million in the 2025 data. Xcel Energy led the way with $4.7 million in lobbying, mostly on the Public Utilities Commission. Five other entities cleared the $1 million mark: the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, Education Minnesota, Otter Tail Power Co., the League of Minnesota Cities and Flint Hills Resources. Entity-by-entity data
can be found here.
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