Good morning. In case you’ve wondered, like us, why those World Cup game balls come back from the stands unlike baseballs or hockey pucks.

Republican candidates for governor are making a pitch to slash Minnesota’s budget a selling point to voters as they near an August primary. Dana reports that three GOP candidates — Kendall Qualls, Lisa Demuth and Mike Lindell — have said they’ll work to shrink state spending, if they’re elected. But they take different approaches to that effort. Coming off of recent cycles of budget growth, they say it’s important to pare back the next two-year spending plan. The current budget is roughly $71 billion with a possible deficit looming. Officials who’ve helped write prior budgets said it’s easy to campaign on plans to shrink state spending — but making that happen can be a challenge. “It's pretty tough to find money to cut without directly impacting something that somebody gets,” Tom Hanson, a former commissioner of Minnesota Management and Budget under former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, said. “You're essentially showing that, well, instead of spending money on A, B and C, I'm going to spend it on, you know, D, E, and F. And you’ve got to make the case, and that isn't always easy.” Democrats said Republicans owe voters details about what programs they’d seek to cut and which Minnesotans could be impacted.

Minnesota’s legislative auditor didn’t find any major problems with the state’s voter registration system and how it’s managed. A new audit largely validated the way records are checked, eligibility is verified and changes to status are conducted. Peter Cox goes through the high points . The audit is by no means a perfect bill of health, even though the spot checks of some procedures registered at 99.9 percent accurate. There are recommendations for assuring that counties act within clear timelines and improve their manual checks. The secretary of state is urged to do more to backcheck the work when it comes to keeping records as up-to-date as possible. The audit did not address others involved in voter registration, including other state agencies and election judges who are part of the election-day registration process. Nor did the audit cover voter outreach efforts or election security. Regardless of what this audit says, election administration will continue to be a major story line heading into November because President Donald Trump has stoked doubts about accuracy and voter integrity.

State election leaders say federal agencies are skipping typical preelection tests to prepare for potential disasters. And they say the practices they’re undertaking involve potential scenarios in which the Trump administration steps in to hamper election turnout in the state. Star Tribune reporter Briana Bierschbach spoke with Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who said typical rehearsals for natural disasters or other surprise events are not taking place this year. That would typically be something federal authorities aim to help states ready for. “The federal government itself is now the potential obstacle — or even the instigator,” Simon told the Star Tribune. “That’s what’s different this time.” Bierschbach reports that federal agencies have shifted their focus to fighting alleged election fraud and have sued the state for access to its voter rolls. Minnesota leaders have refused, citing state and federal law that prevents the release of certain voter information.

The battle over where their opponent’s campaign funding comes from continues to be a consistent talking point for DFL U.S. Senate hopefuls Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and U.S. Rep. Angie Craig. The two continued to trade barbs on the issue, with the primary election about a month away. Flanagan blasted Craig for taking money from several corporate political action committees, saying “dark money” is funneling millions of dollars toward propping up Craig’s campaign. Craig has outpaced Flanagan so far in fundraising and aligned groups are chipping in a lot. “These outside groups aren't spending millions of dollars to elect Congresswoman Craig to the Senate for no reason,” Flanagan said. “They're investing in someone who will do their bidding and attacking me because I won't.” Craig’s campaign fired back, calling Flanagan a hypocrite for not applying the same standard on the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association PAC, which Craig’s campaign says has funding from the pharmaceutical and tech industry, among others. How fundraising is going for both campaigns will become clear next week, when they file campaign reports with the Federal Election Commission.

The only congressional race assured to produce a new U.S. House member next year has produced an intriguing DFL primary. Former state Sen. Matt Little has the 2nd District Democratic endorsement. Yesterday, his two main primary rivals trotted out new endorsements. State Rep. Kaela Berg scored the Our Revolution backing; it’s the political group associated with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The group has been active in key races across the country but it remains to be seen how much money it will pour into lifting Berg, a flight attendant, in the contest. Meanwhile, state Sen. Matt Klein landed the endorsement of another visible group: The Minnesota Professional Firefighters. That group could give him much-needed boots on the ground as the race reaches a decision point. The winner of the DFL primary race — which also features Abdi Abdulle, Hugh McTavish and Christopher Mosel —  will face Republican state Sen. Eric Pratt in November. 

Minnesota’s journalism community lost a good one yesterday with the death of former reporter/columnist Doug Grow. He died at age 78 just a few months after a cancer diagnosis. For decades, Grow was hard to miss and hard to dislike (even those who didn’t like the content of his columns probably didn’t begrudge him personally). He was affable and had a distinctively deep chuckle that would lighten the mood at the Capitol, in a courthouse or the many other places you’d encounter him. And, man, could he write. His breezy, vivid style was a treat to take in. How he described the role of a journalist in this 2007 NPR segment after he took a newspaper buyout captured how he went about the world: “In what other job do you get to toss irreverent questions at the president or the governor?” Grow’s former colleagues have a lot to say about his storied career in this Star Tribune obituary.