Good morning and happy Thursday. Here’s the Digest.
1. Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison says he will resign from office if he's elected chair of the Democratic National Committee in February. Ellison said Wednesday that he wants to have "only one full-time commitment" if he wins the DNC job. Meanwhile, his plans have touched off a scramble among potential candidates to fill his 5th District seat. (MPR News)
2. The new Republican leader in the Minnesota Senate claimed victory after the recount in a St. Cloud senate district that started on Monday. Sen. Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa, said Wednesday Republican Jerry Relph remains the winner of the Senate District 14 race. While not yet official, the win gives the GOP a 34-33 seat majority. A lawyer for DemocratDan Wolgamott said his client would make a statement about his intentions by the end of this week. (MPR News)
3.Ilhan Omar made history on Nov. 8 when she won a Minnesota House seat and prepared to become the nation’s first Somali-American legislator. On Wednesday, she said she was the victim of Islamophobic hate in Washington, D.C.“On my way to our hotel, I got in a cab and became subjected to the most hateful, derogatory, Islamophobic, sexist taunts and threats I have ever experienced,” Omar wrote in a Facebook post. “The cab driver called me ISIS and threatened to remove my hijab. I wasn’t really sure how this encounter would end,” she wrote, adding that she rushed out of the cab. (Star Tribune)
4. New information released by the U.S. Census shows Minnesota’s population is aging and becoming slightly more racially diverse, although it’s still one of the whitest states in the country. The numbers also showeconomic disparities between whites and others have grown since the 2008 recession. African-Americans, American Indians, Latinos and Asians all made less money when inflation was factored in between the 2010 and 2015 numbers. Minnesotans in all those groups are also bringing home a lower median income than their counterparts nationwide. (MPR News)
5. President-elect Trump’s choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency is a sign he intends to roll back much of President Obama’s environmental agenda. Trump has promised to cut back the EPA and lift regulations he says are hurting the oil and coal industries, andOklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is likely to carry out that agenda, given that he’s sued the agency more than once. His choiceenraged environmental activists and cheered the oil industry. (Reuters)
