| A second presidential debate in a row was a jaw-dropper. There were fireworks galore as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump met for their first and potentially only debate before Election Day. Harris worked hard to bait Trump into losing his cool, and she often succeeded. The Democratic vice president railed against his role in overturning federal abortion protections, said he was viewed dimly on the world stage and accused him of wanting to talk about problems more than solving them. “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people,” Harris said in one stinging rebuke. Trump, the former Republican president, continually brought up her role in the current administration and linked her to dissatisfaction with the economy and border security. He lumped Harris in with President Joe Biden, calling them “the worst president, the worst vice president in the history of our country.” By the end, the contrast in visions and style was clear for anyone who took the 90 minutes to watch the full debate.
Watch parties for the Kamala Harris-Donald Trump blockbuster debate gave Minnesota voters a chance to take in the showdown with people with political views similar to their own. There was ample reaction to key moments — from cheering to jeering — at theaters in Minneapolis and New Hope at partisan gatherings where minds were likely already made up. The rooms perked up when the two Minnesota-specific parts of the debate arose: Trump’s faulty description of state abortion laws and his mention of the riots that followed George Floyd’s killing by police.
In a sudden endorsement just after the debate, recording artist (and self-proclaimed childless cat lady) Taylor Swift announced that she was supporting the Harris-Walz ticket. Swift said in a social media post the pair fights for the causes that she believes in and encouraged her supporters to read up about the candidates, register to vote and cast a ballot early. She has a wide following on all the major social platforms, including more than 283 million on Instagram where she posted first. Gov. Tim Walz learned of it in real time while in an interview with MSNBC and said he was thrilled “as a fellow cat owner.” He said, “that's the type of courage we need in America to stand up.” Swift also shared links to register to vote and how to find early voting locations with her followers. The last time Swift urged her followers to register to vote, the nonpartisan group Vote.org recorded more than 35,000 new voter registrations.
Brian is joining Angela Davis this morning at 9 a.m., along with political experts, to weigh in on the debate and what it could mean for the final stretch to Election Day. You can listen along on the radio or on this handy-dandy link. And we want to hear from you about your takeaways and the questions that you have following the former president and current vice president’s first (and likely only) televised discussion.
The next debate features the vice presidential candidates, Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance, on Oct. 1 in New York. They’ve been sparring from afar since Walz joined the Democratic ticket. Vance is Trump’s running mate for Republicans. Yesterday in Phoenix, Walz said Vance should “shut the hell up about talking about women” and their health care. He was speaking to students near the Arizona State University campus. Walz watched the debate while on a western swing state swing; Vance was in Philadelphia. NPR reports that Vance is back in the spotlight for comments he made falsely blaming Haitian immigrants for stealing and eating cats and ducks in his home state of Ohio. Local officials, including police, say the allegation was fabricated by far-right activists before Vance amplified them.
In Washington, a pair of Minnesotans will weigh in on the impact of the riots following the 2020 police killing of George Floyd. Former Republican attorney general candidate Jim Schultz and restaurant owner Brian Ingram are set to testify before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance as part of a hearing branded "The Consequences of Soft-On-Crime Policies.” The issue has spurred ongoing debate over whether Gov. Tim Walz could’ve or should’ve deployed the State Patrol and Minnesota National Guard sooner. The hearing starts at 9 a.m. Central Time.
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Minnesota’s fiscal picture is still sound. New data from the Department of Minnesota Management and Budget show that August tax revenue ran 9.1 percent ahead of projections, or about $187 million more than predicted in a forecast earlier this year. For the fiscal year, the excess is now $197 million above projections. Officials say this latest money surge was due to individual income taxes running strong due to higher withholdings. The monthly report looks only at revenue. We’ll get an update on spending in a few months when a full-fledged forecast is produced.
The path forward for a Minnesota equal rights amendment could hinge on how a similar proposal fares in New York. House Speaker Melissa Hortman told Dana that she is watching the New York amendment that would guarantee equal rights no matter someone’s gender or gender identity. It also offers protections for LGBTQ+ communities and bars discrimination based on pregnancy outcomes. Minnesota DFLers brought a similar measure earlier this year but failed to pass it through both chambers before the end of session to get it to the ballot. Hortman says the trajectory for the New York proposal could shape Democrats’ next steps in St. Paul. “We'll see what we can learn from that. I'm not interested in putting a question on the ballot that doesn't succeed, and I'm not interested in putting a question on the ballot that makes no legal difference in people's lives,” Hortman said. “So I feel really good about where Minnesota state law is now in protecting equal rights and protecting reproductive freedom, and I do think we want some of those protections in the Constitution in case the federal government becomes more hostile to women's rights than they are right now.”
The Minnesota Reformer had two pieces highlighting some questions for GOP candidates running in tight districts for state legislative seats. First, Michelle Griffith reports that state Senate candidate Kathleen Fowke received a state homestead property tax break for a Plymouth townhome where a relative resides. Fowke’s main residence is in Tonka Bay and comes in around $4.9 million. Fowke, who is running in a special election for the Senate seat that could decide control of the chamber, said she sought the benefit to offset “the high cost of everyday goods is hitting many Minnesotans hard.” Madison McVan has a separate piece flagging comments from Republican Erica Schwartz noting that DFL policy goals could lead to another Holocaust. Schwartz is challenging Democratic Rep. Jeff Brand for his St. Peter-area House seat. She issued an apology for the comments and said they were imprecise.
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