Good morning, and welcome to another Monday.
The campaign for Congress in Minnesota’s 2nd District is underway, and everyone expects it to be close. It’s a rematch between DFL U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Republican Tyler Kistner. MPR’s Mark Zdechlik reports it’s already getting heated: Kistner, a former Marine from Prior Lake, focused on inflation and high government spending during a recent stop at a bar and grill outside of Lakeville, as well as high gasoline prices, which he called “apocalyptic.” “The rising cost of living has increased whether you're Republican or Democrat, poor, rich or middle class,” Kistener said. “It has affected each and every one of us.” A few days earlier, Craig was firing up supporters outside her campaign headquarters in Burnsville. “This is about common sense,” Craig said. “It’s about — do you want someone in Congress representing the 2nd District who’s going to actually represent the middle of the 2nd District, or do you want the extreme in our nation?” As Craig framed Kistner as an extremist, she also talked about her support for legalized abortion with the Supreme Court apparently poised to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Kistner opposes legalized abortion, Craig noted. “He is in effect going to mandate, mandate — government mandate – that a woman does not have her own reproductive rights,” Craig said. “This decision is a decision only between a woman and her family and her faith. That is it. The government doesn't belong anywhere near this decision.” Craig sharpened her criticism of Kistner during a brief interview following her remarks. “My Republican opponent here in the second would have voted against the infrastructure bill. My Republican opponent would have voted against capping the cost of insulin at $35. He would never have supported allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. He would never support any changes to our gun laws,” Craig said. “He wouldn't stand up and say, ‘No, Roe v Wade is actual precedent — 50 years, it's not going to get changed.’” Asked for his response during an interview before his Lakeville appearance, Kistner did not dispute any of Craig’s claims. “When you get desperate, you get stupid,” Kistner said, “and Angie Craig is doing everything she can to fight for her political future.”
A new poll commissioned by MinnPost shows a tight race for governor and attorney general in Minnesota. The poll found that 42 percent of 1,551 likely general election voters would pick incumbent Gov. Tim Walz, while 40 percent of those voters would favor Republican Scott Jensen — a result that is within a margin of error of 2.6 percent. Many voters are still unfamiliar with Jensen. Only 23 percent had a favorable view of the former one-term state senator and 19 percent had an unfavorable view of Jensen. The poll found 44 percent had never heard of him at all. Most surveyed believe Minnesota is on the wrong track. The race for Minnesota attorney general is also extremely close, according to the poll. One-term DFL incumbent Keith Ellison is narrowly trailing GOP-endorsed candidate Jim Schultz among poll respondents by one point, which is also within the margin of error and a statistical tie. Ellison fared only slightly better in the poll against Republican Doug Wardlow, who is challenging Schultz in a primary election despite opposition from much of the GOP establishment. Ellison was tied against Wardlow 44-44, with 9 percent of voters saying they were unsure. Ellison beat Wardlow in the 2018 election by fewer than 4 points. About 7 to 8 percent of those who plan to support Walz are undecided in the attorney general’s race, according to Change Research.
High gas prices are playing a role in the governor’s race. Republican-endorsed candidate Scott Jensen proposed a plan for a gas tax holiday and to repeal the state’s minimum price law, and he’s hammering on Walz’s proposed gas tax increase from a couple years ago. The Star Tribune reports: Gas prices — and inflation more broadly — are on track to be a dominant campaign theme this year. Jensen unveiled his plan shortly before outlining priorities on another major issue: public safety. Such issues are supplanting the progressive agenda on which Walz ran in 2018, said University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs. "That's a theme for a different era," Jacobs said. "Right now, to win the election, and particularly the elections that are up for grabs in the Legislature, you have to respond to this deep, deep anxiety."
The Pioneer Press has a look at Jensen’s continuing refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Jensen, the presumptive Republican nominee for Minnesota governor, remains unvaccinated. That puts him in the company of about 25 percent of eligible Minnesotans, but Jensen’s refusal is noteworthy because he’s a practicing physician who continues to see patients most days of the week. The nation’s public health apparatus has tried to reach universal vaccination status for medical workers to help protect vulnerable patients, including with a federal mandate targeting doctors and nurses. Jensen appears to have passed through gaps in the federal vaccine mandate, and in interviews with the Pioneer Press, he acknowledged that mandate might have played a role in his decision to alter his longtime medical practice — relinquishing hospital admitting privileges — which allowed him to avoid the mandate while still being able to accept federal Medicare payments for work with his patients. He has also left a faculty position at the University of Minnesota — a post that could have subjected him to the U’s vaccine mandate — although he said that decision was unrelated to any mandate.
Senate negotiators said Sunday they have reached an agreement on an outline of legislation to react to mass shootings in the country. The New York Times has the story: The plan, endorsed by 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats, would include funding for mental health resources, boosting school safety and grants for states to implement so-called red flag laws that allow authorities to confiscate guns from people deemed to be dangerous. It would also expand the nation’s background check system to include juvenile records for any prospective gun buyer under the age of 21. Most notably, it includes a provision to address what is known as the “boyfriend loophole,” which would prohibit dating partners — not just spouses — from owning guns if they had been convicted of domestic violence. The framework says that convicted domestic violence abusers and individuals subject to domestic violence restraining orders would be included in criminal background checks. In a statement Sunday, DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar said, "I am pleased the Senate is moving forward with a bipartisan framework on gun safety which will include my legislation to close the boyfriend loophole. For years Rep. Debbie Dingle and I have led the legislation to close the loophole to keep guns out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers. This is a positive step forward." | 