Author: MinnPost

The Southwest light rail transit project, also known as the Metro Green Line Extension, is rarely spoken of without the precursor “troubled.” As such, a report by the Office of Legislative Auditor ordered by a rare state House-Senate bipartisan agreement must carry the precursor “much-anticipated.” Released last week and discussed Thursday by the House and Senate’s Legislative Audit Commission, the special review was something of a disappointment. Rather than follow the normal pattern of findings and recommendations, the review was instead an explanation of a lot that was already known about how the project’s budget and timeline expanded. Judy Randall, the legislative…

Tom Weiler has never run for office before, but the Republican congressional candidate knows enough about politics to plan to spend every day at the Minnesota State Fair. Weiler, an Eden Prairie native who now lives in Plymouth, had a 20-year career as a submariner before illness prompted him to retire from the U.S. Navy and challenge Rep. Dean Phillips to represent the 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses many of Minneapolis’s north, south and west suburbs. Weiler’s brother John Weiler manned a cardboard submarine at the entrance of the fair’s Minnesota Republican Party headquarters, eager to promote the candidate to curious…

It was spring 2020, the beginning of the pandemic. City and state governments across the country were implementing stay-at-home orders. So much was unknown about COVID-19’s dangers or its trajectory. And yet, government responses to the crisis were already drawing partisan judgments. On April 17, barely a month into emergency orders restricting access to public spaces, then-President Donald Trump tweeted “Liberate Minnesota,” a message meant to give support to protesters who thought the state had over-restricted business, education and social life in the state. Two weeks later, TikTok creator justinpollock7 posted a video in which he danced to the tune of “Fifty Nifty United…

The Nov. 8 ballots in Minnesota will be crowded with candidates for governor, attorney general, Congress, the Legislature and county offices. One thing they won’t have in nearly the entire state: a contested race for judge. There are two Supreme Court seats on the ballot, 10 for the Court of Appeals and 94 for the District Court. In only one race — a District Court race in Shakopee — is there more than a single choice for voters. Minnesota, which elects judges in nonpartisan elections, rarely has a lot of contests for judicial spots. In 2020 there were five, in 2018…

In election politics, you take victories wherever you can find them. The two endorsed candidates for governor of Minnesota did just that following primary victories Tuesday, Aug. 9, against unknown and unfunded party rivals. Jensen carried more than 87 percent of the vote on the GOP side of the primary against two marginal opponents. Walz did even better — 97 percent — against a perennial DFL candidate. While the separate primaries are hard to compare, more state voters chose DFL ballots than GOP ballots by nearly 110,000. “While tonight’s victory may have been more of a formality, it’s still a…

On Tuesday, Minnesotans will vote to determine who’s on the November ballot in the gubernatorial, attorney general, secretary of state, Congressional, and some state Legislative and local elections, like the Hennepin County attorney and sheriff’s races. Early voting — both by mail and in-person — has been going on for weeks. But if you haven’t voted yet, it’s not too late — you can still drop off your absentee ballot at the office that mailed it to you or cast your ballot in person at your polling place. Here’s how to find where that is, and other things you need to know…

The first face-to-face between Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his GOP challenger Scott Jensen was completely lacking in sports metaphors, a surprise given that the two are prone to posing with footballs the way other politicians pose with babies. But a toss-off question at the end of the exchange in a pole barn at Farmfest – a prediction of how well the Vikings would do this season – led Jensen to, inadvertently perhaps, summarize the event. “I think Gov. Walz would say the same thing: When we’re up here it’s fun to be on offense, not on defense,” Jensen said.…

WASHINGTON – Rep. Dean Phillips, a Democrat who represents the western suburbs of the Twin Cities in Congress, is running for reelection on optimism. His campaign website declares that “Optimism is change,” and he told MinnPost that “optimism is as contagious as fear.” To Phillips, 53, serving in Congress is more than about passing legislation. It’s also about values and character, he said. “Congress can’t legislate compassion, respect or civility, but Congress can model that behavior,” Phillips said. The focus on character is one of the few things Phillips shares with his GOP challenger, 20-year Navy veteran Tom Weiler, who…

The architects behind a now-controversial bill that legalizes the sale in Minnesota of intoxicating compounds found in hemp plants weren’t certain Tuesday whether to admit that the bill was done mostly under the radar or was a result of transparent legislating. At different times, it was both. “Sometimes legislation benefits from a lot of publicity, sometimes legislation benefits from the ability to do the work more quietly,” said House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, comparing this bill to his House File 600 that would have legalized and regulated marijuana for recreational use and that passed the DFL-controlled House in 2021. Senate…

WASHINGTON – The brutal slaughter of 19 children and two teachers in a Texas elementary school has not moved the needle when it comes to the approval of gun legislation in Congress, with the GOP continuing to be opposed to even the most modest proposals. The mass shooting in Uvalde by 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos, who used an AR-15-style rifle, happened on the heels of another mass shooting at a grocery store in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, N.Y. But the latest gun violence seemed to only rip open further partisan divisions. A little over a year ago, the U.S.…