Good morning. There’s no better day to soak up the sun at the State Fair without it being too wet or too steamy than today.
State Sen. Nicole Mitchell is entering a not guilty plea on a burglary charge, according to a notable filing two days before the case is scheduled for a hearing in Becker County. The Woodbury DFLer’s attorneys had earlier moved to get the charge dismissed. As a reminder, this involves an April arrest where Mitchell was encountered at the home of her stepmother and accused of stealing belongings of her late father. An interesting stipulation was entered into the record yesterday by the prosecution and defense. It reads: “Having been forensically examined, the laptop taken into evidence by the Detroit Lakes Police Department is not a predicate to the underlying charge of burglary, or to any amended charge, in the above-referenced court file. The state may not argue that the defendant stole the laptop from the residence in question as part of any theory of burglary. Should this matter go to trial, the defense will be entitled to an instruction explaining the foregoing. Nothing in this stipulation precludes the state from using the laptop or evidence derived from the laptop for any other purpose permitted under the law. The defense withdraws its probable cause motion, waives omnibus issues as to disclosures to date, enters a not guilty plea, and asks that this matter be set for a settlement conference and jury trial.” Meanwhile, Mitchell was at the Minnesota Senate's State Fair booth for a shift yesterday.
You read here yesterday that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has locked in ad time in Minnesota beginning next week, but Republican Donald Trump has not. Still, when it comes to the TV airwaves, NPR’s Domenico Montenaro reports that Trump and his allied groups “are now outspending Team Harris in four of the seven swing states.” The story said it represents a sharp turnaround from earlier in the campaign when President Joe Biden’s campaign was dominating the airwaves. The ads being run by Trump are aimed at defining Harris in a negative light, particularly around issues of border security and her record as a prosecutor.
Vice President Harris and Gov. Tim Walz will sit for their first televised interview tomorrow night with CNN. It will be the first time Harris sits for an extended interview with a reporter since President Joe Biden announced last month that he was stepping down from the race. CNN anchor Dana Bash (hey, what a cool first name) will conduct the interview that is set to air at 8 p.m. Central Time. The pair is set to campaign together in Georgia after that and then Walz will deploy on a multi-state campaign tour through North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and Wisconsin over the weekend. Walz’s schedule still has openings Saturday and Sunday, so he could make a stop at the Minnesota State Fair.
DFL U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar sat for a 25-minute interview with MPR News from our State Fair booth yesterday. Klobuchar, who is seeking a fourth term, told Brian that there is “a stark difference between me and my opponent.” Never using Royce White’s name, Klobuchar said he has “extreme views.” She didn’t commit to debating him one-on-one this fall. In the interview, Klobuchar said she is hopeful Congress could still pass legislation this year to regulate artificial intelligence, or AI, and a bill to clamp down on Internet deepfakes and disinformation. She said Democrats and Republicans shouldn’t stop trying to get an immigration deal that would add more security at the nation’s borders, streamline the visa process and clean up what she sees as a “mess” around immigration. “There is a lot more we should be doing on the border,” she said. Asked whether a fourth term — should she win it in November — would be her last, Klobuchar said “that’s up to the voters. At this point, a lot of good things happen in your last quarter. Ask the Vikings.” We’ll have Republican Royce White on stage this week for an interview as well.
Over at the M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A Star Tribune booth, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan was on stage. She told politics reporter Josie Albertson-Grove that she’s open to running for governor in 2026. Flanagan would get the title in 2025 if Gov. Tim Walz moves up to vice president should Democrats keep the White House. Otherwise, his term runs through 2026 (very early 2027 if you’re a stickler for those type of things). Flanagan said this to the Star Tribune about running atop the ticket in Minnesota: “If the people of Minnesota want me to continue to serve, I am absolutely open to that.” Flanagan probably wouldn’t be the only Democrat with interest, but as the potential incumbent might have the inside track to the nomination.
Finally, there’s a lot of attention on the record of Tim Walz and his biography. But Republicans hoping to ding the Minnesota governor have falsely suggested Walz lied about his dog, Scout, by showing him in pictures with other pooches. Experts in political communication say that even if the hits were outlandish, the broader effort is to feed a perception that Walz isn’t trustworthy. The AP’s Steve Karnowski gets into the way the Scout story fits into the strategy. | 