Good morning! Ten weeks to go before the election.

Republican Mike Lindell is feuding with state officials over a recount plan, putting his planned request for a review of his governor’s race primary loss in doubt. Lindell isn’t happy with the way the ballots would be sorted and tallied in a hand recount at his expense. The plan is consistent with what has been done in past recounts, including two major statewide recounts in races that were far closer than Lindell’s 45,000 vote deficit to Lisa Demuth. So Lindell said he’ll go to court (his case has two other pending cases related to the primary) to seek an injunction. Lindell said he was ready to wire the $825,000 he would need to initiate the recount but balked after his team spoke with Secretary of State’s Office attorneys. There should be clarity today on whether a recount will proceed or if the window for one has closed.

Whichever candidate succeeds in defining the dominant issue of the Minnesota attorney general’s race is likely to dictate who prevails. Seems intuitive but it’s also deserving of nuance. The Star Tribune’s Allison Kite breaks down how Republicans led by nominee Ron Schutz are confident they can beat two-term DFL Attorney General Keith Ellison by making the case about fraud — what he did or didn’t do to address it. Ellison and his party want the race to be about who is better equipped to stand up for Minnesota on consumer protection and against moves by the Trump administration. Certainly, there will be voters upset with stumbles that enabled fraud who still back Ellison. Likewise, there will be voters who think Trump has overreached but want Schutz. This race is certain to be close as the last two that Ellison won were. Outside groups are already spending considerable amounts and the candidates will be going up on air before November, too. 

The governor’s race will get much of the attention and coverage as state Capitol power goes, but the trench fight in swing House and Senate districts is just as key to determining what happens in 2027 and beyond. Matthew Blake of MinnPost has been diving into some of the competitive legislative races. His latest dispatch is from the northwest suburbs in Anoka County, where Sen. Jim Abeler again has a competitive race. The Republican is working to tell voters he’s a pragmatic lawmaker more than a strict partisan. Take this quote: “Actually, I’m the kind of Republican that a lot of Democrats like. Green, labor-friendly, collaborates with everybody,” is what Abeler told one voter at the doors. He’s made doorknocking a full-time job. His DFL opponent, school principal Angela Nelson, is focusing on themes of affordability and accountability for the ICE agent surge. Blake writes that Nelson characterized Abler as “a skillful chameleon who still votes much more with Republicans than not, all while retaining his folksy, riffing demeanor.” This is one of the races that will be vital to party control of the Senate after this November’s election.

There is no timeline for the completion of an investigation into St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her over complaints of inappropriate messages and comments toward subordinates. Mara Gottfried of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that legal costs are mounting as the city pays a St. Cloud law firm to conduct the outside probe. Resolute Law LLC wouldn’t provide an estimate of the investigation cost nor say when work would be completed. The firm is charging $290 per hour for attorney work and $180 for paralegal work. The investigation centers on whether Her created a hostile work environment through text messages that contained innuendo and comments that others for the St. Paul police considered crossing the harassment line. Her has said little about it all, citing the integrity of the investigation as a reason. But she has said she fell short of a personal standard of professionalism and respect with communications she considered to be attempts at humor. 

Finally, the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance is giving political nerds and novices a chance to geek out in the leadup to the November midterm election. The center based at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School is launching a series called “The Road to November: 2026 Midterm Elections,” which is a series of lectures and in-depth looks at aspects of the political fabric. The first event is this Thursday with James Hohmann, a Minnesota-raised columnist for the Washington Post; he’ll talk about the forces driving themes and conditions for the election. Future programs get into election security topics and redistricting’s influence on the race for power in Washington. (Full disclosure: Brian is an adjunct instructor at the Humphrey School but had no hand in this series.)