Politics Friday

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...

For the first time, we’re hearing a detailed account of the shooting that seriously wounded State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, last summer. It was the same night that authorities say the attacker killed his colleague, Rep. Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark Hortman. On this special episode of Politics Friday, MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst talks with Sen. Hoffman about the atta...

In any other week, at any other time, the abrupt end of a governor’s reelection campaign would be the kind of momentous story that dominates the headlines for many days — but this isn’t one of those weeks. Minnesota is under tremendous pressure from internal and external forces. Any sense of civic cohesion is being strained.   On this special episode of Politics Friday, MPR News politics editor Br...

In a momentous start to the 2026 election year, Gov. Tim Walz announced he would end his reelection campaign. The announcement itself was scripted and restrained. The next day, Walz took questions about the decision and the gloves came off. On this special broadcast of Politics Friday, MPR News host Clay Masters and politics editor Brian Bakst cover Walz’s first press conference since dropping out...

It was an eventful off-year election across the country. In Minnesota, St. Paul elected a new mayor, state Rep. Kaohly Her. It was in a surprise repudiation of the incumbent, Mayor Melvin Carter.  Across the river, Minneapolis voters gave their mayor, Jacob Frey, another term.   As the dust settles from the the 2025 election, momentum for the 2026 midterms is picking up. Minnesota will see an elec...

Voters in Minneapolis are electing a mayor this fall, and it's a crowded race with 15 names on the ballot. Four of the leading candidates for Minneapolis mayor address key issues and how they intend to lead their city in a MPR News/Minnesota Star Tribune debate. The candidates were selected because they’ve been the most active in their contacts with voters and in putting resources into the race. I...

Rochester is changing in many ways. City blocks are filled with construction work zones. Streets are littered with detours. Cranes tower over the skyline as a massive makeover plays out. Much of it is tied to a major medical expansion associated with the largest employer around — Mayo Clinic.   There have also been political shifts. Rochester is one of the shrinking number of places outside of the...

Three candidates for St. Paul mayor addressed key issues and how they intend to lead the capital city in a MPR News/Pioneer Press debate.  Incumbent Mayor Melvin Carter, DFL state Rep. Kaohly Her and scientist and business owner Yan Chen talked about their plans for addressing economic development, taxes, crime, homelessness and rising city costs. MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst and Pioneer P...

Former state Sen. Scott Jensen maneuvered his way through a crowded governor’s race field to gain the Republican Party’s backing in 2022. Now, he’s hoping to do it again. Jensen, a family physician, won the Minnesota Republican Party endorsement in 2022 but lost in November to Gov. Tim Walz by more than 7 percentage points. He says  he’s running again to “restore the values, safety and opportunity...