Politics Friday

A new senator will emerge from Election Day no matter what because there is no incumbent on the ballot. The two major party candidates are here for their first — and possibly only — one-on-one debate. Friday at noon, the DFL Party’s nominee, Peggy Flanagan, and Republican nominee, Michele Tafoya, went head-to-head on the issues in a debate moderated by MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst. Guests:...

Editor’s note: Ahead of a Friday debate between U.S. Senate candidates Michele Tafoya and Peggy Flanagan hosted by MPR News, politics editor Brian Bakst asked each to talk about how their lives helped form their politics. On this special episode of Politics Friday, we feature conversations in a series we’re calling “In Your Backyard.” MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst recently met with U.S. Sen...

Minnesota has eight members of the U.S. House and those seats don’t change hands often — but this November, one of them will for sure. Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District has is no incumbent on the ballot. The seat has been held by U.S. Rep. Angie Craig for a little under eight years. The open seat means a new representative in a district covering the southern metro suburbs and down into farm c...

Two candidates vying to be Minnesota’s attorney general met Friday in their first debate. DFL incumbent Keith Ellison, who is after a third term, and Republican Ron Schutz, an attorney, went head-to-head over issues defining their intense and increasingly expensive race. Republicans last won a Minnesota attorney general’s race in 1966, although Ellison won by small margins in his past two election...

We’re delving into the practical effects of Minnesota electing its first woman as governor and what issues might get new attention at the state Capitol. Barring something unforeseen, Minnesota will join the current list of 32 states that have elected a female chief executive. MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst talks with correspondent Dana Ferguson about the campaigns of Democratic nominee Amy K...

Mark Dayton held a career in public service in Minnesota that spanned five decades. He is well known for serving two terms the state’s governor, leaving office in 2019. Before that, Dayton’s career included stints as a state agency official, state auditor and U.S. senator. Dayton talked with MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst to reflect on his career and discuss his new memoir, titled "Persevera...

The country is acknowledging a somber anniversary: 25 years ago, America suffered its worst terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst explores how that event hit home in Minnesota with former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, whose first ballot-box victory came the same day as the attack. We’ll also look at whether the lessons from the attack endured and how that day cha...

DFL U.S. Senate hopefuls U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan met for a live debate Monday on MPR News. Senate debate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDYHGPRp1E8 With about two weeks left until the primary election on Aug. 11, Flanagan and Craig responded to questions about fraud, immigration enforcement, Social Security and other issues. Guests: Peggy Flanagan is Minnesota’s two-term...

Thousands of the most politically involved Minnesotans are trading a leisurely spring weekend for the rough-and-tumble of indoor state party conventions. They're weighing who they want to carry party banners in races for governor, U.S. Senate and much more. Republicans will gather in Duluth, while DFLers are on their way to Rochester. How are Democrats and Republicans preparing for November’s midt...

Minnesota lawmakers have headed home for the year. The Legislature adjourned earlier this week after enacting some priorities and setting others to the side. Some bills still await action by Gov. Tim Walz. Barring a special session, these will be the last bills that Walz confronts after two terms in office. MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst speaks with Walz about the highs and the lows over his...

Minnesota lawmakers are filling in the details of a legislative budget agreement struck this week and will have to hustle to pass the bills needed to enact it. If they do, Minnesotans will see reductions in their vehicle registration, help with rising property taxes, continuation of a lead pipe replacement push and more. A key hospital in Minneapolis would get a lifeline and counties would get mon...

The Legislature will end its session this month. Lawmakers don’t have a choice; the Minnesota Constitution requires them to wrap it up. The political parties both hold late-May endorsing conventions. DFLers meet in Rochester while Republicans assemble in Duluth. There are choices in the major races — governor and U.S. Senate — but the gatherings of activists can be unpredictable. MPR News politics...

The Legislature will end its session this month. Lawmakers don’t have a choice; the Minnesota Constitution requires them to wrap it up. The political parties both hold late-May endorsing conventions. DFLers meet in Rochester while Republicans assemble in Duluth. There are choices in the major races — governor and U.S. Senate — but the gatherings of activists can be unpredictable. MPR News politics...

There’s an open seat in the U.S. Senate, and Republicans are trying to do something they haven’t since 2006: Win a statewide election. Both parties are working to figure out their nominees for November. Veteran sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya is taking the political plunge, and if she succeeds she might be one of the more recognizable U.S. senators. Can Tafoya overcome what’s shaping up as a tou...

Minnesota is suing — and has been sued — a lot. There are cases over health care funding, immigration, clean energy policy, election laws, tariffs, diversity policies and much more. Playing point for much of it: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. He’s teamed up with Democratic attorneys general in other states for some of the litigation and has gone solo in other cases. Closer to home, he’s...

The pace will crank up at the Minnesota Capitol next week. With fewer than six weeks before the required legislative adjournment, packages of policy and spending measures will set the tone for the end-of-session negotiations that aren’t all that far off. What’s still in play and what has taken a back seat? How prickly will those floor debates get? MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst speaks with t...

Minnesota’s eight U.S. House seats don’t change hands all that often, but after November’s midterm election one seat certainly will. The state’s 2nd Congressional District will have a new representative come January 2027. Democratic incumbent, Rep. Angie Craig, is running for the open U.S. Senate and will leave the House after four terms. MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst speaks with candidates...

Local party conventions around Minnesota are shaping top political races. Delegates are being selected for the state endorsing conventions at the end of May. So candidates are making the rounds — especially for Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate seat and an open governor’s race. Democrats will be trying to hang onto the seats, while Republicans will be trying to break a statewide election dry spell. The...

The first big deadline for action in the 2026 legislative session is quickly approaching at the Capitol. While committee hearings will be churning at full steam next week, a number of bills are delayed or stuck in the tied Minnesota House. But there’s an area where measures have fielded bipartisan support: consumer protection.  Legislation is on the march that deals with the prices people pay, def...

It’s been about a month since White House Official Tom Homan announced a drawdown of federal immigration officers in Minnesota, but the news from a fearful public  and growing concern for those impacted remains.  Lawmakers at the state Capitol are responding to the fallout from “Operation Metro Surge” through a variety of bills. They’re also holding press conferences and speaking on the floor of t...

Federal law changes provided new breaks for income derived from overtime and tips. Other business tax cuts were approved last year, too. Now Minnesota lawmakers are debating how many of those ideas to incorporate into the state tax code. It would come at a hefty cost. Proposals to contain rising property taxes are also under review in the Legislature. MPR News host Brian Bakst and a pair of lawmak...

There’s been a strong focus on an issue of ongoing concern in the state: Fraud, and what to do about it.  Lots of fraud-fighting ideas are floating around the Capitol. Several have bipartisan support, but that doesn’t mean their travels through the Legislature will be smooth.  MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst talks with a pair of lawmakers with a similar goal but competing visions for a propos...

The Minnesota Legislature’s 2026 session started with reflection about the deadly shootings that killed state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.  Another lawmaker, state DFL Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, survived a connected shooting at their home. Hoffman was honored in the Senate chamber. It was the first time the Legislature had been in order since months of traumatic and tr...

Minnesota lawmakers will face constituent pressure to take action on some potent issues from guns control, immigration, fraud, taxes and more as the convene the 2026 session on Tuesday. The Capitol also remains deeply split, with legislative seats almost evenly divided between the parties in the House and Senate.  Progress will be a challenge in an election year when some key players are looking u...

Tens of thousands of voters across Minnesota convened at schools, community centers and other gathering places to pick their preferred candidates for governor. They also vented their concerns on immigration, fraud and other priorities for the state’s major political parties. MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst recaps the results from caucus night and where campaign 2026 goes from here. House Spea...