| The federal government will be funded until around Christmas. House Speaker Mike Johnson turned to Democrats to rally votes to keep the government open through Dec. 20, kicking a bigger funding fight to the end of the year . The Senate quickly followed suit. The legislation extends current funding levels and also provides an additional $230 million to the Secret Service in the wake of two assassination attempts against Former President Donald Trump and increased security as candidates head into the final sprint to Election Day. Among Minnesota’s delegation, all four Democrats supported the bill and two Republicans, Reps. Tom Emmer and Pete Stauber, did. Republican Reps. Brad Finstad and Michelle Fischbach opposed it. Both of Minnesota’s U.S. senators were on board.
A Senate committee issued a report detailing Secret Service failures around the first assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump. The report, released yesterday, details leadership failure and key lapses in preparation and communication at the rally in Butler, Pa. in July. Some of the problems highlighted included the Secret Service failing to set up visual barriers around the rally that could have blocked the shooter’s views of Trump. The report also reveals the Secret Service did not have a plan on how to secure the building the shooter was on top of and took aim from. Key resource requests also were denied, and some were not made, the report said. Secret Service advance agents also did not request a surveillance team.
Considerable spending has already gone into the select races that will determine which party leads the Minnesota House next year. Candidates running for the 134 House seats are largely limited in how much they can raise and spend in their district campaigns. But party committees and outside groups are not. Through mid-September, $5.1 million in independent expenditures to build up a legislative candidate or tear them down has already been spent. And much of that is in fewer than 20 races around the state since most House seats are a virtual lock for the DFL or GOP. There has been $448,000 so far in independent spending in the winner-take-the-majority Senate special election in the Lake Minnetonka area.
In the House, there are four races that have topped $400,000 in outside spending as of Sept. 17. Here are the most expensive 10 races so far by district number and candidates:
35A: DFL Rep. Zach Stephenson vs. Republican Josh Jungling $432,319 35B (open): DFLer Kari Rehrauer vs. Republican Steve Pape $425,819 41A (open): DFLer Lucia Wroblewski vs. Republican Wayne Johnson $417,076 48B: DFL Rep. Lucy Rehm vs. Republican Caleb Steffenhagen $412,296 3B: DFLer Mark Munger vs. Republican Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar $335,079 18A: DFL Rep. Jeff Brand vs. Republican Erica Schwartz $293,585 41B (open): DFLer Jen Fox vs. Republican Tom Dippel $277,861 45B: DFLer Tracy Breazeale vs. Republican Rep. Andrew Myers $273,507 54A: DFL Rep. Brad Tabke vs. Republican Aaron Paul $258,696 14B: DFL Rep. Dan Wolgamott vs. Republican Sue Ek $257,957
Democrats have the financial upper hand with about six weeks to go in the 2024 election. Nine parties and political funds reported having at least $1 million in reserve in their state accounts as these reports were filed this week. Of those, half are either Democratic party accounts or groups that tend to back DFL candidates. Two were corporate-associated accounts in which the money might not be spent in Minnesota, but state law still requires some level of disclosure because there has been previous activity in the state. Only two were Republican funds. Cash on hand balances:
DEMOCRATS DFL House Caucus $3.54 million Minnesota DFL Party (state account) $2.13 million DFL Senate Caucus $1.98 million
REPUBLICANS House Republican Campaign Committee $1.63 million Senate Victory Fund $1.45 million Republican Party of Minnesota (state account) $38,533
POLITICAL FUNDS (top 5 active in Minnesota groups) Education Minnesota PAC $1.36 million Laborers District Council of Minn and ND Political Fund $958,501 Faith in Minnesota Action $827,469 Americans for Prosperity Action — Minnesota $802,281 Advance Minnesota Independent Expenditure Committee $776,968
Every election there are ballot typos, glitches and misprints that gain attention. A few have already occurred in Minnesota since early voting began. One was in Faribault County (the party affiliation of Rep. Peggy Bennett and her challenger Joe Staloch were reversed on a small number of ballots), another in Zumbro Falls (some voters received ballots containing races from a neighboring district) and a third in New Hope (the middle initial of Rep. Cedrick Frazier is listed as a B instead of an R). All were quickly caught and are being remedied through a court-prescribed process. As of Wednesday, two petitions have been filed with the Minnesota Supreme Court asking justices to order steps to correct the Faribault and Hennepin County errors, with one likely to come soon in the Wabasha County situation. Secretary of State Steve Simon was on Minnesota Now yesterday explaining what’s done to prevent the errors and what’s done to fix them. Here’s that conversation with Cathy Wurzer.
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