Good morning, and welcome to another Monday, now 15 days out from the election.
Candidates for Minnesota attorney general and secretary of state debated on KSTP-TV Sunday night, although Gov. Tim Walz declined an invitation and his Republican opponent Scott Jensen got the stage for a half hour alongside an empty podium. Attorney General Keith Ellison and his Republican opponent Jim Schultz disagreed on crime and abortion. Secretary of State Steve Simon and his Republican opponent Kim Crockett disagreed on election security and the need for voters to show a photo ID. “We have 3.3 million voters in Minnesota, number one in the country. Since 2020 there have been exactly 17 cases of misconduct of any kind across any system of our election system,” Simon said. Crockett responded by comparing voter fraud to drunk driving, suggesting many more people do it than get caught. “When our county attorneys are not looking for that fraud, or when they find it they don’t prosecute it, that’s why we end up with small numbers,” Crockett said. Walz and Jensen will debate on MPR News Friday at noon.
Vice President Kamala Harris stopped in the Twin Cities on Saturday for a roundtable on reproductive rights and a fundraiser for Walz. MPR’s Mark Zdechlik reported Harris’ first appearance was in St. Paul for a midday discussion at Metro State University with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and the host of the “She Pivots” podcast, Emily Tisch Sussman. Harris called the abortion restrictions passed in some states immoral. “When I look around the country and I've been traveling around the country, and there are these extremist, so-called leaders, passing laws or proposing laws on this issue with no exception for rape or incest,” Harris said. “So understand we're talking about a human being who has endured an act of extreme violence and violation to their body. And so-called leaders would then deprive that individual of the ability to make decisions about their body going forward."
How did Matt Birk go from a career in professional football to the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor?The Pioneer Press has a profile: When Birk retired from football in 2013, he wasn’t sure where his life would lead. “I’m not really a planner,” he said. “I kind of take life as it comes, and it’s sorta worked out for me at this point. I just stay open to things. I guess I thought I’d just be coaching a lot of ball and raising kids.” He’s doing both. His interview with the Pioneer Press took place as he strode through the grounds of the state Capitol, leaving a news conference with Jensen and on a strict time constraint to reach his truck, where he could change, at least partially, out of his suit and into more appropriate attire for coaching youth football practice. “I would say when you’re done playing, there’s a period of wandering. Because your whole life is different. Everything is different. So I tried a couple of different things.” Birk worked for the NFL, started several business ventures, authored a book, established a charity and co-founded Unity Catholic High School in Burnsville in 2019.
Scott Jensen has said repeatedly he wants to start a conversation on eliminating the state income tax, which raises about $15 billion annually to finance state government. It turns out it’s more than just a trial balloon.The Star Tribune reports that in September Jensen told them that he had met with experts and spent hours reviewing spreadsheets. He laid out a path to phase out the income tax over eight years and navigate the resulting hole in state finances. It would start with a 10 percent cut in state spending during his first year in office. Minnesota has a two-year budget of nearly $53 billion, and Jensen said he would like to return to where it was a couple years ago, at roughly $48 billion. For the following three years, he said, he would cap state spending. Jensen said he would spend the state's record-breaking budget surplus, estimated at $9.3 billion earlier this year, during that period. He said he would freeze state hiring, but has said state employees would not lose their jobs and get a raise. Jensen didn't detail where he would cut.
In the campaign for control of the state Legislature, MPR’s Dan Gunderson reports:Minnesota Senate District 2 boundaries were redrawn this year, shifting to the east to encompass the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. The district now includes Red Lake, Leech Lake and White Earth, the three largest tribal nations located in Minnesota. DFL candidate Alan Roy expects to get strong support from Native voters. "Red Lake specifically, they’ve decided some races. They primarily vote over 95 percent DFL consistently, and White Earth and Leech Lake, I think with the groundwork that we're putting in will make a difference," said Roy. He grew up on the White Earth reservation before leaving to attend college and serve in the military. After returning, he was elected to the tribal council. Roy was defeated in a 2020 run in the old Senate District 2, receiving about 35 percent of the vote. During a debate broadcast on Lakeland Public Television, sponsored by Lakeland PBS, The Bemidji Pioneer, The Brainerd Dispatch and KAXE Northern Community Radio, Republican candidate Steve Green said he would work with tribal governments if elected. "Because I'm a member at White Earth as well as Alan is” Green said. “But the main thing to remember is that the issues that are affecting all of this district are the same whether you're a tribal member or not.”
And for those who pay attention to such things, the Forum newspapers endorsed Jensen over Walz in the governor’s race. From the editorial: No one foresaw a global pandemic or many other events of the past four years. While Gov. Tim Walz can argue that he and his administration faced unprecedented situations during his four years in office, the fact remains that in the biggest moments, Walz and his cabinet made decisions that caused or contributed to the economic hardships, anxiety, depression and lawlessness that continue to plague Minnesota.
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