| Minnesota’s marijuana licensure process is the subject of a court hearing today. Several people left out of the lottery for preapproved licenses to be part of the legal marketplace have sued to try to stop regulators from holding that lottery on Tuesday. They say in court filings that they were denied without being given clear reasons for it nor a pathway for formal appeal. A Ramsey County District Court judge will hear arguments and consider the request for a temporary injunction. Leaders at the Office of Cannabis Management say they’ve followed the law and taken steps to root out social equity applicants trying to flood the zone on behalf of monied interests seeking a head start in Minnesota’s marijuana market. More on the legal jockeying here from MPR’s Matt Sepic.
We’ve also got eyes on happenings in a pair of close Minnesota House races that wound up in recounts. Election administrators in Sherburne County will conduct a partial recount in the House District 14B race where DFL Rep. Dan Wolgamott held a 191-vote edge over Republican challenger Sue Ek. While the margin was outside of the zone for a taxpayer-funded recount of the entire race, Sherburne is reviewing ballots by hand in a few precincts where there were some problems with an election machine memory card. In Scott County, the local canvassing board meets to rule on a small number of challenged ballots from a recount that had DFL Rep. Brad Tabke up 15 votes over Republican Aaron Paul. The House GOP is considering an election contest filing (basically a lawsuit) over 21 ballots that officials haven’t been able to account for. If the results in both races stand, the House would convene in a 67-67 tie next year.
One other House race is on the after-election radar. It was a decisive victory by DFLer Curtis Johnson over Republican Paul Wikstrom for an open seat in the Roseville area. Wikstrom sued last week, arguing that Johnson failed to meet residency requirements and therefore shouldn’t be able to fill the seat. Wikstrom’s attorneys want a Ramsey County District Court judge to order a new election. Wikstrom backers surveilled an apartment as part of the filing. Watchers for Johnson’s team to argue that the legal challenge is ill-timed and should be dismissed on those and other grounds. Clay Masters wrote about that case on Friday. It has yet to be scheduled for a hearing.
Meanwhile, the Senate is back to full strength as of Monday. Former DFL Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart takes her oath for a new term. She won a November special election in the Lake Minnetonka area. She will complete the term of Sen. Kelly Morrison, who resigned ahead of a successful run for Congress. More importantly, it will preserve the DFL’s one-vote edge in the Senate heading into the 2025 session.
Incoming President Donald Trump has completed the round of cabinet secretary nominations, with those picks facing Senate confirmation votes early next year. But he’ll also have thousands of other picks to make for lower-rung spots in departments and key federal law enforcement positions in the states. The four Republicans in Minnesota’s congressional delegation expect to have some influence in who fills the spots, from the U.S. attorney and marshal to the main agriculture official the feds have in the state. They set up a nominations committee to screen possible appointees before they’re recommended to the Trump administration. Former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice G. Barry Anderson will chair their new committee. The committee also includes several others, mostly involved in practicing and teaching law.
Democratic senators, including those from Minnesota, are worried that Trump is trying to evade full scrutiny for some of his appointments. They’re particularly concerned that nominees aren’t being put through FBI background checks as is custom. Sen. Amy Klobuchar serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee. That committee will hold a confirmation hearing on Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general who is Trump's pick for U.S. Attorney General. “I want to have the hearings. I want to make a decision on each one of them on the merits, as I've done in the past, and I can't do that without the background checks,” Klobuchar said on ABC's "This Week" program Sunday. Others, like Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, say Americans don't care about who conducts the background checks.
As the political parties analyze voting patterns this election compared to prior ones, a shift among voters with East African roots is among the more intriguing ones. Fewer voters turned out overall in Minneapolis precincts with big concentrations of immigrants from Somalia and other East African countries — and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris underperformed past candidates from the party among those who did vote. MPR’s Cari Spencer spoke to people who sat out the election or encountered difficulty turning out their peers. Minnesota Republicans say they made a concerted effort to win those voters over for Trump and other GOP candidates. They hope the shift will be a lasting one. | 