Good morning, and welcome to another Monday. It’s good to be back after some time off. Let’s get caught up.
We’re less than a month away from the Aug. 9 primary election, and a number of candidates from the right are hoping to win the Republican nomination to run for legislative seats.Briana Bierschbach at the Star Tribune has the story: A nurse from Prior Lake and a former respiratory therapist from Stillwater who rallied against COVID-19 mandates. A business owner sentenced to 90 days in jail because she wouldn't shut down her bar during pandemic-related closings. An Army veteran from Browerville who believes the false claims that voter fraud elected Joe Biden in 2020. They're among a wave of enthusiastic conservative activists who have filed to run for Minnesota legislative seats this fall, leading to an inordinate number of Republican intraparty battles on the Aug. 9 primary ballot. In many cases, the activists have managed to grab party endorsements from incumbent lawmakers. If they are successful in the primary and general election in November it could help shift the power center in St. Paul further to the right.
Bill Salisbury at the Pioneer Press has a look at a longtime DFL incumbent facing a primary challenge from the left: During her 22 years in Congress, Betty McCollum has compiled the record of a political progressive. The St. Paul Democrat has championed women’s rights, combated climate change and supported universal health care and environmental protection, along with other actions that promote the interests of modest-income people who rely on government programs. She received a 91 percent “progressive” rating from Progressive Punch, a nonpartisan group that evaluates congressional voting records. But McCollum isn’t progressive enough for Amane Badhasso. The 32-year-old community organizer and Ethiopian immigrant is running against the congresswoman in the Aug. 9 DFL primary election for the 4th Congressional District seat. She had raised more than $600,000 for her campaign as of April 1 and hoped to top $800,000 by the end of June.
Crime and public safety will be big general election issues. Minnesota state troopers said they made more than 500 traffic stops during a weekend crackdown on reckless driving and street racing in Minneapolis. The patrol said that nearly 100 of the drivers did not have valid drivers licenses, and that 37 people were arrested, 22 of them for impaired driving. Troopers also cited multiple people for possession of illegal fireworks and for racing on Hennepin Avenue on Friday and Saturday night. The stepped up enforcement was ordered by Gov. Tim Walz following a surge of gun violence, illegal fireworks and reckless driving complaints in the city over the July 4th holiday weekend.
On Friday, Walz and DFL U.S. Rep. Angie Craig visited a first-responder training facility in the south metro Friday to highlight public safety efforts. MPR’s Mark Zdechlik reports that Walz said, "Zero tolerance of crime is absolutely an expectation. I think people should expect that." Walz said addressing increased crime will require more funding, collaboration between different units of government and community-by-community solutions. He said efforts such as enhanced State Patrol involvement in community policing are not sustainable over the long term. Many Republicans blame Walz and other Democrats for a rise in crime. Craig’s Republican opponent Tyler Kistner is among them. "Make no mistake, Angie Craig, Tim Walz, and the rest of the Democrats in Minnesota are responsible for the surge in lawlessness and violent crime across our state," Kistner said in a statement. Walz noted that GOP lawmakers refused to pass his budget, which included more funding for law enforcement.
Another key November election issue is abortion, now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade. Republicans have claimed that Walz and DFL Attorney General Keith Ellison support abortion “on demand up until the moment of birth.” MinnPost takes a look at whether the claims are true: Do the DFL incumbents support third-trimester abortion “for any reason?” Both say they do not and neither of their political opponents produced evidence that they do or have supported no-restriction abortion. Walz and Ellison do support allowing what are called late-term abortions — those done after a fetus is considered to be able to survive outside the womb — for medical reasons only. Those could be life or health of the mother or because the fetus has abnormalities incompatible with life. One percent or fewer abortions in Minnesota are conducted in the final three months of pregnancy.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar helped Tony Oliva’s brother Juan Carlos get a visa to travel from Cuba to the United States to see Tony inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Oliva said, politics aside, he was just pleased that his family will be able to reunite for the ceremony, capping a life in baseball that began when he and his brother were children. “Everything worked out perfect. I’m really happy,” Tony Oliva said. “That would be another dream for me for America and Cuba … to be a friend again.” | 