#minnesota politics

[greatwyrmgold]

Pour one out for the Politifact and Snopes writers who get shit like "Did Tim Walz design Minnesota's new state flag to look like the flag of Somalia?" and have to find sources to demonstrate that obvious falsehoods are obviously false.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jeff Singer at Daily Kos Elections:

Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, a decision that could usher in a new era of leadership in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan would become Minnesota's new chief executive should the Harris-Walz ticket prevail in November, an ascension that would make her the first woman to lead the state. Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, would also be the first Native American woman to serve as governor of any state. No matter what, though, this office will next be on the ballot in 2026 for a full four-year term. Walz, writes KARE 11's Jeremiah Jacobsen, would be the state's first governor to resign since 1976, when Sen. Walter Mondale's election as Jimmy Carter's vice president set off a volatile chain of events back home that proved disastrous for Democrats. Following Mondale's departure for Washington, Democratic Gov. Wendell Anderson stepped down from his post and arranged for his lieutenant governor, Rudy Perpich, to appoint him to Mondale's Senate seat. These insider dealings, however, backfired with voters, leading to the "Minnesota massacre" of 1978: Republican Rudy Boschwitz trounced Anderson in the race for Senate while Republican Al Quie unseated Perpich as governor.

Walz's succession would be a far simpler affair, but there's also the matter of who would replace Flanagan in her current role. State constitutional law expert Quinn Yeargain explains in Guaranteed Republics that the next person in line to become lieutenant governor is the president of the state Senate, a post that's held by Democrat Bobby Joe Champion. Should Champion succeed Flanagan, he, too, would make history, as the first Black person to serve as Minnesota's lieutenant governor. There's a potential hitch, though. The 67-member Senate is currently tied because Democratic state Sen. Kelly Morrison, who is the favorite to replace retiring Rep. Dean Phillips in Congress, resigned in July so that a special election could be held simultaneously with the November general election. The rest of the Senate, however, isn't up for election again until 2026, so this one race will determine who controls the upper chamber next year.

[...]

But even if Republicans were to pull off an upset in this special election at the same time Harris and Walz prevail in the Electoral College, Yeargain writes that it's possible that Walz could time his resignation to ensure that Champion still becomes lieutenant governor. That would be a far better outcome for Democrats than the last time the number two slot became vacant. When then-Gov. Mark Dayton selected Lt. Gov Tina Smith to fill Al Franken's Senate seat after he resigned in early 2018, the GOP had control of the state Senate. As a result, Republican Michelle Fischbach was elevated to the lieutenant governorship and served for a year before waging a successful bid for Congress in 2020. Looking ahead, because Minnesota does not have term limits, whoever is governor—whether that's Walz or Flanagan—will be able to run in 2026. Voters, however, have never awarded an incumbent three consecutive terms. The last to try was Perpich, who staged a successful comeback in 1982 and won two full terms. But when he sought a third straight in 1990, he lost a close and chaotic battle to Republican Arne Carlson.

More herstory could be made in Minnesota: If Tim Walz wins the Presidential election (along with Kamala Harris), then Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D) would be elevated to Governor.

If that happens, then she would be the first Native woman to be Governor in US history to serve the remainder of Walz’s current term and would be up in 2026.

[deadpresidents]

The Twin Cities PBS affiliate (Minneapolis/Saint Paul) made an EXCELLENT documentary that they just released called "Jesse Ventura Shocks the World!" about Ventura's stunning election in 1998 as Governor of Minnesota. I'm always happy to praise the work of public television, but they did such a great job in making this awesome documentary and I hope that people outside of Minnesota will take the time to check it out.

Ventura's election as Governor was revolutionary and it could have and should have been a big step in the establishment of a viable third political party on a national level, but the Reform Party could never get it's act together and Ventura's victory ended up being the party's high point. Ventura got so fed up with the infighting and various factions of the Reform Party that he actually quit the party halfway through his single term as Governor. Frustrated with the toll that the job was having on his family, Ventura chose not to seek re-election in 2002.

What the documentary from Twin Cities Public Television does best is show the absolutely brilliant campaign that Jesse Ventura ran against two opponents from the two major parties who were about as strong and qualified as it got for candidates for high office in Minnesota at the time. The Democratic nominee, Skip Humphrey, had been Minnesota's Attorney General for 16 years and had been one of the most popular and successful politicians in the state for well over a decade. He also just happened to be the son of longtime U.S. Senator and former Vice President Hubert Humphrey. The Republican nominee, Norm Coleman, was the Mayor of Saint Paul where he was popular for bringing an NHL team back to the Twin Cities. But Ventura's campaign manager, Dean Barkley, helped put together an incredible campaign that used every bit of Ventura's charisma and star power while registering new voters and getting others to the polls who might otherwise have stayed home had they not been intrigued by how different Ventura was. Ventura also did a fantastic job debating Humphrey and Coleman, and was incredible as a retail campaigner, hitting as many colleges and small towns throughout the state as possible.

But best of all were the television ads for Ventura created by Bill Hillsman, which remain among the most creative and effective political ads ever made at ANY level of politics. These included a faux action figure commercial where a Jesse Ventura action figure battles "special interests man" and the personification of "politics as usual". It's an absolutely genius political ad and was perfect for Ventura's personality and the political role he needed to play in order to win a three-way race against two tough, major-party opponents. Hillsman also created an ad called "Jesse the Mind" where Ventura was posing like Rodin's The Thinker sculpture as a voiceover explained that he wasn't just a former professional wrestler but had a wide variety of unique life experiences that made him different than traditional career politicians like Humphrey and Coleman.

"Jesse Ventura Shocks the World!" is awesome and a fascinating look at a remarkable moment in political history. It also points out how Governor Ventura led the way for Governor Schwarzenegger and President Trump, although Ventura adamantly disagrees with who Trump -- who was once a friend and potential political ally of Ventura's when Trump was teasing running for office in the late-90s -- has become and is disgusted by his impact on the country. The documentary also raises questions about what Ventura could have done (and how far he could have gone) had he not grown so frustrated with his role and with the media's coverage while he was Governor. Watching the documentary makes you think about what could have been had Ventura not turned into such a -- and excuse me for using such a scholarly phrase from political science: batshit crazy weirdo conspiracy theorist.

Still, check out the documentary, "Jesse Ventura Shocks the World!", and big shout-out to the folks at Twin Cities PBS/Twin Cities Public Television for making such an entertaining and interesting -- and really fun! -- look at a genuinely remarkable political figure.

[kp777]

[....]

Mr. Walz’s presence on the presidential ticket is evidence, perhaps, that the Wellstone tradition might not get left behind in the 2020s, even as the billionaires who fund the Democrats demand policies that are much friendlier to them.

None of Mr. Wellstone’s populism was an affectation. Unlike John Fetterman, the hoodie-clad Pennsylvania senator who grew up in suburban affluence, Mr. Wellstone was the child of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants and won a wrestling scholarship to the University of North Carolina, where he starred in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He later earned his doctorate from U.N.C. and became a political science professor at Carleton College in Minnesota.

Read more.

[hatamighijyab]

Hi, do you live in Minnesota? Do you or a loved one have a uterus? Do you believe that people shouldn't be penetrated in their uterus without their prior informed consent?

Then I would like to kindly ask you to look into companion bills SF 1396 and HF 78, which prohibit medical professionals from conducting pelvic examinations on unconscious patients without their informed consent in advance. Which yes, is a real medical practice (if you don't live in Minnesota and that freaks you out, I encourage you to see if there is a proposal for similar legislation where you live). If you agree with the bills or the idea behind them, please reach out to your state legislators, encouraging them to support them!

You can also reach out to local organizations, especially those relating to women's health, to encourage them to publically support the bill to generate public pressure to support them.

[risingshards]

Rep. Leigh Finke (DFL-St. Paul) wants to protect transgender people, their families, and medical practitioners from legal repercussions for traveling to Minnesota to receive gender-affirming care.

Such health care encompasses a range of social and medical interventions to affirm someone’s internal gender identity, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, permanent hair removal, voice therapy, and surgical interventions.

“This need is desperate in my community. This is not a hypothetical scenario,” Finke said. “There are gender-diverse people in Minnesota right now receiving gender-affirming care. More are fleeing their home states asking where they should turn.”

Finke sponsors HF146, which aims to establish Minnesota as a “Trans Refuge” state by preventing out-of-state laws from interfering in the practice of gender-affirming health care here.

The bill passed the first committee yesterday!

Also the governor posted this recently as well which is nice to hear amidst the general *gestures around the world* attitude

[airplanefoodblackmarket]

I can’t believe it’s been 20 years today since Paul Wellstone died. Anyway, I haven’t seen anything about the anniversary yet today, aside from the radio here, so I thought I’d do my own little tribute.

20 years ago today, on a crisp Northern Minnesota fall morning, the United States lost one of its best Senators, Minnesota lost one of her favorite sons, and we all lost some of the best people in politics. Senator Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, their daughter Marcia, campaign aides Mary McEvoy, Tom Lapic and Will McLaughlin, and pilots Richard Conroy and Micheal Guess died in a plane crash near Eveleth. Their loss is still deeply felt in my home state, and in the Democratic Party, and we’re still fighting to push forward all the things he believed in.

Rest In Peace, Paul, Sheila and everyone. We’ll remember you.

[1900scartoons]

Shocks Due In This Locality 

January 31, 1907

The northwest state legislatures erupt with geysers of Railroad Reforms, Anti-Lobby Legislation, Two-Cent Rate, Separation of Corporations from Politics, and Taxation of Trusts; the Lobbyists flee, while the Fat Boy watches alarmed from a distance.

The caption reads "Predictions say that February will be a month of jars and jolts."

Several anti-trust and anti-corruption bills were in the works in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas.

From Hennepin County Library

Original available at: https://digitalcollections.hclib.org/digital/collection/Bart/id/6070/rec/32

[politijohn]

Source

Phenomenal choice

As a former teacher, MN Governor Walz has:

Signed legislation protecting abortion rights

Signed an executive order protecting gender-affirming care

Banned conversion therapy

Restored voting rights to Minnesotans who are on parole, probation or community release due to a felony

Signed voting rights legislation

Signed legislation legalizing recreational cannabis

Signed legislation guaranteeing free school lunches to students

Expanded workers rights and is supported by unions

[reasonsforhope]

Kamala Harris just announced that her vice president will be Minnesota governor Tim Walz. Based on the coverage so far I'm really reassured by this decision.

The Washington Post did an obviously great job of making a prepared article for each option, considering how long an article they had up 7 minutes after the announcement.

((Okay technically it's not an official announcement yet it's "according to three people familiar with the pick, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a decision that is not yet public." But listen. I am 99% sure this is a weather balloon. (Meaning: a deliberate leak to gauge reaction.) Because the sheer weakness or incompetence on the part of the Harris campaign that it would take for three people to all confirm that within a few hours hours of each other and the planned announcement it is massive.))

-via The Washington Post, August 6, 2024

Honestly this decision, from everything I've read and can tell, looks like it's brilliant politics.

Important Context: The vice president(ial candidates)'s job in an election is not to be similar to the president. The vice president's job on the ballot is very, very much specifically to be different from the president. Why? So they can cover each others' weaknesses. Especially regionally.

(Sidenote: I feel a bit ridiculous saying this. But genuinely if you want to get a stronger understanding of how US elections really work. Go watch seasons 6 and 7 of The West Wing. Genuinely, a lot of politicians have said - especially back in its day - that that was the most accurate depiction of an election they'd ever seen. Also specifically features an entire arc about a contested Democratic primary convention, so also very good if you're interested in understanding weird nominating convention shenanigans.)

From the article:

"Harris’s choice for a running mate was among the most closely watched decisions of her fledgling campaign, as she sought to bolster the ticket’s prospects for victory in November and rapidly find someone who could be a governing partner. In picking Walz, she has selected a seasoned politician with executive governing experience and signaled the importance of Midwestern battleground states such as Wisconsin and Michigan.

Walz’s foray into politics came later in life: He spent more than two decades as a public school teacher and football coach, and as a member of the Army National Guard, before running for Congress in his 40s. In 2006, he defeated a Republican to win Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District--a rural, conservative area--and won reelection five times before leaving Congress to run for governor.

Walz was first elected governor in 2018 and handily won reelection in 2022. Though little-known outside his state, Walz emerged publicly as one of the earliest names mentioned as a possible running mate for Harris, and in the ensuing days he made the rounds on television as an outspoken surrogate for the vice president...

“These are weird people on the other side. They want to take books away, they want to be in your exam room. … They are bad on foreign policy, they are bad on the environment, they certainly have no health care plan, and they keep talking about the middle-class,” Walz told MSNBC in July. “As I said, a robber baron real estate guy and a venture capitalist trying to tell us they understand who we are? They don’t know who we are.”

Walz also has faced criticism from Republicans that his policies as governor were too liberal, including legalizing recreational marijuana for adults, protecting abortion rights, expanding LGBTQ protections, implementing tuition-free college for low-income Minnesotans and providing free breakfast and lunch for schoolchildren in the state.

But many of those initiatives are broadly popular. Walz also signed an executive order removing the college-degree requirement for 75 percent of Minnesota’s state jobs, a move that garnered bipartisan support and that several other states have also adopted.

“What a monster. Kids are eating and having full bellies, so they can go learn, and women are making their own health-care decisions,” Walz said sarcastically in a July 28 interview with CNN when questioned whether such policies would be fodder for conservative attacks, later adding: “If that’s where they want to label me, I’m more than happy to take the [liberal] label.”

Walz also spoke at a kickoff event in St. Paul for a Democratic canvassing effort, casting Trump as a “bully.”

“Don’t lift these guys up like they’re some kind of heroes. Everybody in this room knows--I know it as a teacher--a bully has no self-confidence. A bully has no strength. They have nothing,” Walz said at the event, sporting a camouflage hunting hat and T-shirt.

Walz has explained that he felt some Democrats’ practice of calling Trump an existential threat to democracy was giving him too much credit, which prompted his decision to denounce the GOP nominee instead as being “weird.”

“I do believe all those things are a real possibility, but it gives him way too much power," Walz said on CNN’s “State of the Union” regarding the Democrats’ rhetoric. “Listen to the guy. He’s talking about Hannibal Lecter, shocking sharks, and just whatever crazy thing pops into his mind.”

If Walz is elected vice president, under state law, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D) would assume the governorship for the rest of his term. Minnesota Senate president Bobby Joe Champion, a Democrat, would become lieutenant governor."

-via The Washington Post, August 6, 2024

--

This guy. Sounds like. fucking Moderate swing-state/rural/Midwestern/southern/"heartland"/working class white voter catnip. He sounds like he's also a very smart politician and strong campaigner. And he's apparently genuinely a good guy with a good record, too.

He sounds like he's going to do a really good job of appealing to voters in several of the big deal swing states without being from any of them specifically. Which means it doesn't feel like pandering to one of the states involved (and thereby spurning the others), which is also great.

(Also he was the one who started "weird" @ conservatives and I think we should take that seriously as a very good political instinct/move. Judging in large part by how it has so clearly hit an actual nerve with conservatives like so little else. Also hugely relevant: that post going around about how part of why conservatives are so upset about "weird" is because in the Midwest, "weird" specifically also implies anti-social or harmful behavior.)

Officially feeling more optimistic about Trump not winning in November

[odinsblog]

🗣️THIS IS WHAT INCLUSIVE, COMPASSIONATE DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE

Minnesota Dems enacted a raft of laws to make the state a trans refuge, and ensure people receiving trans care here can't be reached by far-right governments in places like Florida and Texas. (link)

Minnesota Dems ensured that everyone, including undocumented immigrants, can get drivers' licenses. (link)

They made public college free for the majority of Minnesota families. (link)

Minnesota Dems dropped a billion dollars into a bevy of affordable housing programs, including by creating a new state housing voucher program. (link)

Minnesota Dems massively increased funding for the state's perpetually-underfunded public defenders, which lets more public defenders be hired and existing public defenders get a salary increase. (link)

Dems raised Minnesota education spending by 10%, or about 2.3 billion. (link)

Minnesota Dems created an energy standard for 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. (link)

Minnesota already has some of the strongest election infrastructure (and highest voter participation) in the country, but the legislature just made it stronger, with automatic registration, preregistration for minors, and easier access to absentee ballots. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded the publicly subsidized health insurance program to undocumented immigrants. This one's interesting because it's the sort of things Dems often balk at. The governor opposed it! The legislature rolled over him and passed it anyway. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded background checks and enacted red-flag laws, passing gun safety measures that the GOP has thwarted for years. (link)

Minnesota Dems gave the state AG the power to block the huge healthcare mergers that have slowly gobbled up the state's medical system. (link)

Minnesota Dems restored voting rights to convicted felons as soon as they leave prison. (link)

Minnesota Dems made prison phone calls free. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed new wage protection rules for the construction industry, against industry resistance. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a new sales tax to fund bus and train lines, an enormous victory for the sustainability and quality of public transit. Transit be more pleasant to ride, more frequent, and have better shelters, along more lines. (link)

They passed strict new regulations on PFAS ("forever chemicals"). (link)

Minnesota Dems passed the largest bonding bill in state history! Funding improvements to parks, colleges, water infrastructure, bridges, etc. etc. etc. (link)

They're going to build a passenger train from the Twin Cities to Duluth. (link)

I can't even find a news story about it but there's tens of millions in funding for new BRT lines, too. (link)

A wonky-but-important change: Minnesota Dems indexed the state gas tax to inflation, effectively increasing the gas tax. (link)

They actually indexed a bunch of stuff to inflation, including the state's education funding formula, which helps ensure that school spending doesn't decline over time. (link)

Minnesota Dems made hourly school workers (e.g., bus drivers and paraprofessionals) eligible for unemployment during summer break, when they're not working or getting paid. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed a bunch of labor protections for teachers, including requiring school districts to negotiate class sizes as part of union contracts. (Yet another @SydneyJordanMN special here. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a state board to govern labor standards at nursing homes. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, which would set price caps for high-cost pharmaceuticals. (link)

Minnesota Dems created new worker protections for Amazon warehouse workers and refinery workers. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed a digital fair repair law, which requires electronics manufacturers to make tools and parts available so that consumers can repair their electronics rather than purchase new items. (link)

Minnesota Dems made Juneteenth a state holiday. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned conversion therapy. (link)

They spent nearly a billion dollars on a variety of environmental programs, from heat pumps to reforestation. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded protections for pregnant and nursing workers - already in place for larger employers - to almost everyone in the state. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a new child tax credit that will cut child poverty by about a quarter. (link)

Minnesota Democrats dropped a quick $50 million into homelessness prevention programs. (link)

And because the small stuff didn't get lost in the big stuff, they passed a law to prevent catalytic converter thefts. (link)

Minnesota Dems increased child care assistance. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned "captive audience meetings," where employers force employees to watch anti-union presentations. (link)

No news story yet, but Minnesota Dems forced signal priority changes to Twin Cities transit. Right now the trains have to wait at intersections for cars, which, I can say from experience, is terrible. Soon that will change.

Minnesota Dems provided the largest increase to nursing home funding in state history. (link)

They also bumped up salaries for home health workers, to help address the shortage of in-home nurses. (link)

Minnesota Dems legalized drug paraphernalia, which allows social service providers to conduct needle exchanges and address substance abuse with reduced fear of incurring legal action. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned white supremacists and extremists from police forces, capped probation at 5 years for most crimes, improved clemency, and mostly banned no-knock warrants. (link)

Minnesota Dems also laid the groundwork for a public health insurance option. (link)

I’m happy for the people of Minnesota, but as a Floridian living under Ron DeSantis & hateful Republicans, I’m also very envious tbh. We know that democracy can work, and this is a shining example of what government could be like in the hands of legislators who actually care about helping people in need, and not pursuing the GOP’s “culture wars” and suppressing the votes of BIPOC, and inflicting maximum harm on those who aren’t cis/het, white, wealthy, Christian males. BRAVO MINNESOTA. This is how you do it! And the Minnesota Dems did it with a one seat majority, so no excuses. Forget about the next election and focus on doing as much good as you can, while you still can. 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

👉🏿 https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1660846689450688514.html

[flibbertygigget]

anyways fuck these 15 delusional minnesota dfl libs. calling anyone who supports palestine an antisemite "justify[ing] the mass murder of jews", repeating sensationalized israeli propaganda (some of it already proven to be exaggerated or false), and not even MENTIONING the blockade of aid, the indiscriminate bombings, and every other fucking thing israel has done to the people of gaza is fucking disgusting. oh, and fuck walz, dfl chair ken martin, and every other bullshit mn official who was at that fucking pro-apartheid rally on oct 10th

[bearded-shepherd]

[idontlikeem]

we are going to be insufferable and it’s well-deserved. get ready. minnesota 🔛🔝

[stuffaboutminneapolis]