State Rep. Cedrick Frazier and former U.S. Attorney Anders Folk will face off in November to succeed Mary Moriarty as Hennepin County Attorney, in a race centered on continuing criminal justice reform and prosecuting ICE agents. Contributing writer Clint Combs breaks down the primary results.
Politics
Posted inLocal & State
How Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” affects SNAP
Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” is reshaping SNAP eligibility, kicking asylees and refugees off benefits and adding new work requirements, while shifting billions in costs onto states starting in 2026. Contributing writer Ella Stern breaks down the impact on Minnesota, where over a quarter of SNAP recipients are Black.
Posted inPolitics
Beating the odds: Flanagan wins big in Minnesota, poised to make Senate history
Peggy Flanagan won Minnesota’s DFL Senate primary in a landslide despite being significantly outspent, positioning her to become the first Ojibwe U.S. senator in history. Contributing writer Izzy Canizares breaks down the race against Angie Craig and what it means for November.
Posted inPolitics
NAACP launches historic $20 million election campaign
The NAACP has launched a historic $20 million Get Out The Vote campaign ahead of the November midterms, aiming to mobilize 6.5 million Black voters across 14 states. Digital Editor Aaliyah Demry breaks down the effort.
Posted inPolitics
Trump Administration Shelves Harriet Tubman $20 Bill Plan
The Trump administration has shelved plans to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill while pushing forward a $250 bill featuring Trump himself. The contrast drew swift criticism from lawmakers who’ve pushed the Tubman redesign since 2015.
Posted inEvents
Young changemakers to celebrate Legislative wins at community gathering
Catalyst for Systems Change invites the community to its Legislative Recap & Changemakers Program Celebration, highlighting the young people who helped shape policy at the State Capitol this session. Digital Editor Aaliyah Demry has the details.
Posted inPolitics
Sens. Smith, Klobuchar Urge Trump to Sign Landmark Housing Bill at Twin Cities Press Conference
U.S. Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar joined housing advocates in Edina to call on President Trump to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the most significant federal housing legislation in more than 30 years, which he declined to sign despite its 85-5 Senate passage.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Justice reform bills stall again at the Capitol, the fight continues
The Pretrial Data Transparency Act failed to pass for the second year in a row in Minnesota, but the Minnesota Justice for All Coalition is not deterred, continuing to push for reforms in a system where 63% of Hennepin County’s jail population is Black.
Posted inPolitics
Federal bill could gut state protections for kids on social media
Contributing writer Anya Armentrout examines how social media harms Black youth disproportionately, why Minnesota’s new Stop the Harms Act matters and why advocates fear the federal KIDS Act would gut state-level protections that actually have teeth.
Posted inPolitics
The Convention Hall and the Kitchen Table
Hamline University political science professor David Schultz builds a median voter index scoring 12 contested issues to show that Minnesota’s center-left voter sits at 60, while the DFL scores 80 and the Minnesota GOP scores 23, explaining why Republicans have not won a statewide race in two decades.
Posted inPolitics
Kendall Qualls wins GOP endorsement for governor
Minnesota Republican convention delegates held a moment of silence for Derek Chauvin, the officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, on the sixth anniversary of Floyd’s death, as Army veteran Kendall Qualls won the GOP endorsement for governor.
Posted inLocal & State
DOJ Announces $90 Million Medicaid Fraud Indictment in Minneapolis as Acting AG No-Shows
Federal prosecutors announced indictments against 15 people accused of defrauding Minnesota’s Medicaid program of $90 million, as RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz joined DOJ officials at a Minneapolis press conference while the acting attorney general was in Washington defending a fund for Trump allies.
Posted inLocal & State
Judge Orders Trump Administration to Hand Over Unredacted Documents in Case Against 39 Activists
A federal judge ordered prosecutors to turn over unredacted discovery documents in the case against the 39, as defense attorneys argued nearly every name of law enforcement officers and witnesses had been redacted, making a legal defense functionally impossible.
Posted inPolitics
Civil rights groups fight back as Trump policies target Black voters, Muslim communities
CAIR-Minnesota hosted Somali American Solidarity Day at the State Capitol as the organization announced it is representing a Minnesota labor organizer whose phone and books were seized by federal agents, while the NAACP fights Tennessee’s gerrymandered congressional map in court.
Posted inPolitics
Clock ticks as MN gun bill stalls in House
A sweeping gun reform bill banning semi-automatic assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines passed the Minnesota Senate 34-33 on May 4, but faces an uncertain future in the House as the legislative session nears its end.
Posted inHealth + Wellness
HCMC could close in June. Lawmakers have two weeks to stop it
Hennepin County Medical Center could begin closing in June if lawmakers fail to reach a funding deal before the legislative session ends May 18, as the hospital faces a financial crisis years in the making and federal Medicaid cuts that threaten to deepen the damage.
Posted inPolitics
Supreme Court guts Voting Rights Act, what it means for Minnesota
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais has gutted the federal Voting Rights Act. Minnesota advocates and Attorney General Keith Ellison say the state’s own Voting Rights Act is now a critical line of defense.
Posted inPolitics
Bipartisan bill to create independent inspector general moves toward final vote
A bipartisan bill creating a new, independent Minnesota Office of Inspector General has passed the Senate and cleared the House Ways and Means Committee, awaiting a floor vote.
Posted inPolitics
Housing advocates push to extend bipartisan state tax credit program beyond 2028
Minnesota State Housing Tax Credit Program extension is being pushed at the Capitol as advocates and legislators say the bipartisan affordable housing program has drawn 1,100-plus contributors and consistently outpaced its funding supply.
Posted inPolitics
Boundary Waters mining ban overturned in narrow Senate vote
Boundary Waters copper mining ban has been lifted after the Senate passed H.J.Res.140 50-49, revoking a 20-year moratorium on copper sulfide mining in the Rainy River Watershed despite opposition from Sen. Tina Smith and a broad coalition of Minnesotans.