Good Tuesday morning. Here’s your Digest. 1. Are voters finally giving Klobuchar a look? Before last week, Beth Kundel Vogel was undecided when it came to the Democratic presidential hopefuls. But in the debate on Tuesday, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota impressed her by calling out Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts for offering voters a “pipe dream” rather than a plan to pay for universal health care. And on Friday, Ms. Kundel Vogel heard Ms. Klobuchar speak passionately in Davenport, Iowa, about one way of thinking about the 2020 race: the need to win support beyond the party base. “We have to remember that nearly 10 percent of Trump voters voted for Barack Obama,” Ms. Klobuchar said. “It’s our job to bring them in.” “Seeing her in person just closed the deal for me,” said Ms. Kundel Vogel, 47, a human resources manager. “She understands what it’s going to take to win, which is to win over independents and former Trump voters.” Riding a post-debate wave of attention, Ms. Klobuchar blitzed New Hampshire and Iowa last week, attracting new supporters and donors in those two states with early nominating contests. After months stuck in the polling doldrums, Ms. Klobuchar is getting a second look. But she faces several challenges, among them that she is arguing how to win general election swing states but has yet to show how she would win the nomination first. New York Times 2. Minnesotans favor Democrats (especially Klobuchar) over Trump. President Donald Trump trails several leading Democratic candidates, as well as U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, at this point in the presidential campaign in the state, according to a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll. The two current front-runners for the Democratic nomination, former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, both beat the president by double digits among Minnesota voters. Voters polled picked Biden over Trump by 12 percentage points, 50% to 38%. Warren, who attracted a large crowd at an August campaign rally in St. Paul, tops Trump 51% to 40%. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who places third in most national polls of the Democratic field, is ahead of Trump 49% to 40%. The survey also asked voters about a hypothetical match-up between Trump and Minnesota’s Klobuchar, who trails in the crowded Democratic field. The third-term senator finished ahead of Trump by the widest margin, 55% to 38%. Star Tribune 3. Lawsuit seeks restoration of felons’ voting rights. The debate over felon voting rights in Minnesota has moved from the Capitol to the courthouse. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the constitutionality of the state’s voting restrictions on felons serving probation. Convicted felons are prohibited from voting while they are incarcerated. But in Minnesota, the restriction still applies to felons who have completed jail time and are on supervised probation. Even felons who never spent any time behind bars are prohibited from voting if they are on probation. “The number of people barred from voting is appalling. It’s appalling, and we must do better,” said Elizer Darris, one of four named plaintiffs. The 35-year-old served 17 years in prison for 2nd degree homicide. He isn’t eligible to vote until 2025. MPR News 4. Wisconsin to consider gun legislation in special session. Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Monday called the Legislature into a special session next month to take up a pair of gun control measures that its Republican leaders have been unwilling to debate, accusing them of telling those who support the measures to “go to hell.” The move won’t force Republicans to debate or vote on the bills, but it will force them to at least convene the special session. That gives Evers and Democrats a chance to put a spotlight on the gun control measures that a Marquette University Law School poll last month said had over 80% support. Republican leaders said they would not pass the bills, calling them an attack on Second Amendment rights. Evers, at a news conference in Milwaukee surrounded by anti-gun violence advocates, Mayor Tom Barrett, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and Democratic lawmakers, said Republicans unwilling to take up the bills were choosing “weakness over common sense.” Associated Press 5. Consternation over administration of equity grants. At a December stop in north Minneapolis before his inauguration as governor, Tim Walz got an earful from Alfred Babington-Johnson. Babington-Johnson, president and CEO of the nonprofit Stairstep Foundation, told Walz that state officials were putting unnecessary stress on organizations that provide job training and education to help cut Minnesota’s persistent racial disparities. Groups like his, he said, “got sidetracked, hoodwinked, hornswoggled” by state bureaucracy. Stairstep Foundation is not alone in this concern. Since 2016, the Legislature has spent millions of dollars each year on what are often referred to as “equity grants.” Yet many of the organizations getting money have complained of slow payments, inconsistent expectations and burdensome state oversight that has hindered their work. The relationship with the state has frayed enough for the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to acknowledge many concerns and pledge reform. MinnPost | 