Minnesota

Democracy dies in memedom.

The Senate races that could shock you on election night.

Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Vermont vote.

Ilhan Omar bids to succeed Keith Ellison in Minnesota’s Fifth District.

The state shifted right during the Trump Era, and the gubernatorial race is a toss-up

Is the Labor Department scheming to take away restaurant servers' tips? That's the message some labor advocates are sending in response to a proposed rule-making by the Trump administration that would permit kitchen staff in certain states to receive a portion of servers' tips.

On Monday, Democrats outperformed Hillary Clinton in two state legislative special elections in Minnesota (senate district 54 and state house district 23B). These races didn’t generate the flashy headlines that some others have—neither seat changed hands and Democratic overperformance was below…

There must be a specter of bad timing that haunts good athletes, like some ghost that breathes allergenic dark matter into a player’s airway and makes him cough up the moment. It appears in about two and a half seconds: Which is how long it took the ball to leave Mookie Wilson’s bat, bounce toward…

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken announced Thursday morning that he would resign from the Senate amid allegations that he forcibly kissed or groped several different women. Franken’s resignation would trigger a special election for the seat in the 2018 midterms and allow Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton to…

After a week spent limping along under the weight of accusations of sexual misconduct, Sen. Al Franken announced his resignation from the Senate Thursday morning.

In the two weeks since sexual misconduct allegations began to surface against him, Senator Al Franken has repeatedly apologized to the four women who have accused him of groping them. He’s said he’s “embarrassed and ashamed,” and insisted that “we have to listen to women and respect what they say.”…

A Los Angeles news anchor and former model on Thursday accused Sen. Al Franken of sexually assaulting her during a USO tour to the Middle East in December 2006.

Minneapolis

The New York Times's Jonathan Martin reports that congressman Keith Ellison is "facing increasingly vocal resistance" from influential groups within the party over the Minnesotan's effort to become Democratic National Committee chairman. That resistance apparently includes Jewish organizations like…

Keith Ellison, the Minnesota congressman who is seeking the chairmanship the Democratic National Committee, is beginning to feel the heat for his past profession of radical views and associations with extremists. At the New York Times, Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman report that "some…

In the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump and a Republican Congress, Minnesota representative Keith Ellison has emerged as a leading contender to chair the Democratic National Committee. Ellison resides on the far-left fringe of the Democratic party. But perhaps it is a fringe no more.…

Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison is the progressive favorite for Democratic National Committee chairman. If Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders get their way, he'll replace disgraced Donna Brazile, who replaced disgraced Debbie Wasserman Schultz, as the party's chief organizer.

Minneapolis

Minnesota governor Mark Dayton liked it, but couldn't keep it—his staunch support of Obamacare, that is, which he dropped on Wednesday with a tough assessment of the law.

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Writing in City Journal, Scott Johnson investigates allegations that Ilhan Omar, a Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate for Minnesota state representative who recently won her primary and is on the verge of becoming the nation's first Somali-American legislator, is legally married to her brother.

As of Wednesday night, these are the presidential candidates voters will choose from on Minnesota's ballot in November:

Minneapolis

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If you get your news from the headlines, you can be excused for thinking that “Minnesota men” pose a special risk of taking up the terrorist jihad at home and abroad. As the Wall Street Journal reported this past April, for example, “U.S. charges six Minnesota men with trying to join ISIS.” The…

It’s too soon to tell whether the world will be able to recover from its grief, but we suppose civilization must go on, if for no other reason than to preserve the memory of the deceased. We speak, of course, of the tragic killing of Cecil the Lion—the beloved symbol of Zimbabwe’s wildlife. To be…

The Obama administration is funding a provision of the Affordable Care Act unconstitutionally and against the decision of Congress, a Republican House member says. Peter Roskam of Illinois joined Fox News's Greta van Susteren Thursday to talk about the details of his findings in an oversight…

Following the 2014 elections, Congressman John Kline remains the major and senior elected figure in the Minnesota Republican party. The powerful chairman of the House education committee, he will be a central figure in the reform measures ahead to improve the nation’s faltering public school…

Minneapolis

One health insurer in Minnesota, once the top seller on the state' s Obamacare-mandated exchange, is expected to raise its premiums between 40 and 60 percent. Small-business health insurance rates are also expected to go up in Minnesota. KSTP-TV reports the story:

Fox News 9 of Minneapolis, St. Paul reports that:

In 1978, Republicans in Minnesota, astonishingly, won all three statewide races: both Senate seats and the governorship. It became known by DFLers (Democrats here run as Democratic-Farmer-Laborites) as the “Minnesota massacre.” Republicans preferred to call it their Minnesota miracle. This year…

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There’s a refrain familiar to any regular Capitol Hill reporter trying to ask a question of Senator Al Franken, Democrat from Minnesota and Saturday Night Live alum: “I don’t talk to national press. You’ll have to speak to my staff. I only talk to Minnesota press.”

Al Franken, the first-term Democratic senator from Minnesota, is under 45 percent against 4 potential GOP challengers in a new poll. Suffolk University's poll of likely voters in Minnesota also found Franken with a 46 percent favorability rating, while 41 percent say they have an unfavorable…

The Hill reports:

Minnesota’s Keith Ellison made history as the first Muslim elected to Congress. He is a former member and local leader of the Nation of Islam who first ran for office as a Democrat in 1998 under the pseudonym Keith Ellison-Muhammad. He’s a voluble striver and a hustler emitting Marxist claptrap…

Americans for Prosperity has two new ads targeting House Democrats in swing districts, both of which make the case that Obamacare "doesn't work" and should be repealed. The first ad, running in New Hampshire, tells Democratic congresswoman Annie Kuster to "stop thinking about politics and start…

The chief executive officer for Minnesota's Obamacare exchange resigned Tuesday after reports surfaced she had taken a tropical vacation in November, right when the state's health insurance exchange website was experiencing problems. ABC affiliate KSTP has the story:

Minnesota senator Al Franken, a Democrat, opens the door to a delay of the Obamacare individual mandate in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio.

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A Minnesota affiliate reports that MNSure, the state's Obamacare exchange, is down due to a glitch:

President Barack Obama admitted today in a speech in Minnesota that his gun control policies are not a "perfect solution:

Senator Al Franken clarified his support today that he is in fact in favor of the proposed "assault weapons" ban. "[W]e should reinstate a ban on assault weapons," said Franken today in a statement.

Even Senator Al Franken, a staunch liberal, will not say whether he support a so-called assault weapons ban. The Post Bulletin reports:

The State Department has announced that it's sending the assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs to ... Minneapolis, Minnesota. The government official, Esther Brimmer, will meet with "local human rights and refugee advocates."

Via Maggie Haberman, the Obama campaign announces Bill Clinton will campaign in Minnesota:

The Pioneer Press reports: 

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Texas governor Rick Perry, a former Republican presidential candidate, has endorsed former Vets for Freedom director Pete Hegseth for Senate in Minnesota.

Pete Hegseth, a 31-year-old Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran and the former director of Vets for Freedom, may be the GOP’s best chance to defeat Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota’s first-term Democratic senator. But he first has to win the endorsement of the state Republican party.

Pete Hegseth, a 31-year-old veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, has announced a bid for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

A Rasmussen poll of likely voters in the “four key states” of Ohio, Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina, shows Rick Santorum leading President Obama by 5 percentage points among independents, while Obama leads Mitt Romney by 3 percentage points among that crucial group of voters. The Rasmussen…

With St. Louis and Kansas City on opposite ends of the state, and with mostly small(er) towns or rural areas in between, Missouri features a blend of urban, suburban, and rural living somewhat like that of the United States as a whole. Yet as this map from the Los Angeles Times shows, Rick Santorum…

"We doubled [Romney] up here and in Minnesota," Rick Santorum enthusiastically told his Missouri crowd this evening. Santorum directed his fire at Barack Obama, saying that he does not listen to the American people, and indicating that Romney's positions too closely mirror Obama's own positions.  

Today's primary contests include Missouri's "beauty contest" primary, the Minnesota caucuses, and the Colorado caucuses. Polling firm PPP says all three contests look good for Rick Santorum.

On a conference call Monday afternoon, a Mitt Romney campaign surrogate—Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor—criticized Rick Santorum for being part of the “big-spending establishment in Congress and in the influence-peddling industry that surrounds Congress,” and for previously supporting…

To the Republicans of the states of Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado:

I wonder if three features of the race as it stands today aren't being a bit neglected:

Mitt Romney announced today that former Minnesota senator Norm Coleman will be a "special adviser" to his campaign, focusing primarily on foreign policy. "[Coleman's] advice will be critical as I lay out my vision for improving our economy at home and strengthening our partnerships around the…

Here’s the good news about Obama’s luxury RV bus tour through middle America: For the first August of his presidency he’s not pushing the cock and bull line about this being a “recovery summer.” It’s a whole new president!

Gallup finds that a generic Republican is beating President Obama by eight points.

No, Rupert Murdoch does not pay negative income taxes: "Oh David Cay Johnston, You’ve Done It Again! Reuters Nixes Serial Misreporter’s Debut Column"

CNN reports:

Minnesota, like a lot of states, is facing a major budget shortfall. In order to close the state's $6.2 billion gap, the Wall Street Journal reports that the state's new Democratic governor is considering jacking up the state's taxes on high income earners to unprecedented levels:

Minnesota may be heading toward another drawn-out recount battle, this time with the race to succeed two-term governor Tim Pawlenty. Politics Daily reports:

Eighteen-term Democratic congressman Jim Oberstar usually wins his "Iron Range"-based Minnesota House seat with more than 65% of the vote, but a new SurveyUSA poll shows him leading Republican Chip Cravaack--a former Navy pilot and Northwest Airlines pilot--by just 1 point. 

Remember those signs that 18-term incumbent Jim Oberstar of Minnesota might be in trouble?