Good morning, and happy Friday.
At noon on the radio today I'll be talking about inflation and the economy, which many polls show are top issues in this year's campaign. And we'll look at the president's decision Thursday to pardon people convicted of marijuana possession and what his actions mean for Minnesota. Listen at MPR News.
Republican nominee for governor Scott Jensen has secured the backing of a major police group as he works to elevate crime as an issue in the closing weeks of the campaign. MPR's Brian Bakst reports the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association announced its endorsement of Jensen Thursday after picking a different Republican earlier in the race. DFL Gov. Tim Walz didn't seek or screen for the endorsement. Jensen said Walz has let lawless behavior fester. The former state senator said he'd crack down through policy, judicial picks and other appointments. "The police and the MPPOA specifically are going to be at the table as we choose the leaders going forward that are going to help lead the charge to regain lawful behavior in Minnesota," Jensen said. Walz proposed substantial increases in public safety funding during this year's legislative session but nothing was approved when a budget agreement collapsed. He's talked about getting tougher on gun crimes to stem violence.
Meanwhile, in his first public remarks since his comment about litter boxes in schools blew up, Jensen called it a distraction and said voters should focus on larger issues. "Why are achievement gaps increasing? Are we really on target with what's going on with education? Why has education become so indoctrinational? I think parents want a foundational education provided to their kids and that's why they're so frustrated," he said. "So I don't think you want to get distracted by some of the peripheral things." Some Democrats and educators have criticized Jensen for being insensitive to non-gender-conforming students and have asked him to apologize for his remarks.
Walz said Thursday he hopes the $487 payments going out to more than a million Minnesotans who worked on the front lines during the pandemic are just the first round of bonuses. During a visit to Inver Hills Community College, Walz said many Minnesotans need a little extra money. "I'm going to make the case that this is a first tranche. We had asked for more than this, so the $500 payments that are going, we can come back again for those folks," Walz said. "And I think we're seeing, we saw it today, between Russians working with the Saudi Arabians they're going to cut oil production, your gas prices are going to go up because they want to punish us. We need to one: become energy independent. Two: use our surplus to make things easier for folks that are out there." Walz said he wanted the payments to go out last year, but it took the Legislature so long to reach a deal the bonuses look like an election year giveaway.
The latest KSTP/SurveyUSA poll shows the races for constitutional offices all tight with lots of undecided voters. DFL Attorney General Keith Ellison had a 45-43 percent lead over Republican Jim Schultz with 13 percent undecided. DFL Secretary of State Steve Simon had a 42-40 edge over Republican Kim Crockett and DFL State Auditor Julie Blaha led 41-38 over Republican Ryan Wilson. The poll showed 18 percent of voters were undecided in both of those races. All the results were within the poll's plus or minus 4.4 percent credibility interval, which is similar to margin of error.
As Sen. Bernie Sanders holds a campaign rally for Keith Ellison in Minneapolis today, the Minnesota Reformer reports one of Sanders' former political staffers went on to work as a consultant for Feeding Our Future: Abshir Omar was also deputy director of a nonprofit named Tasho that ran six food distribution sites — sponsored by Feeding Our Future — which reported serving 4,000 meals per day. He and the nonprofit have not been charged with any crimes. Reached by phone, Omar said he didn't have time to talk, and hung up. Sanders made Omar his Iowa political director after Omar ran for the Des Moines City Council in 2017. At the time, Sanders tweeted, "I'm proud to have Abshir Omar on our team fighting for a political revolution." So far, the U.S. Department of Justice has indicted about 50 people with bilking a federal child nutrition program out of nearly $250 million in Minnesota. Instead of providing 125 million meals, they instead bought luxury cars, houses, jewelry, and coastal resort property abroad, prosecutors said.
And the Minnesota secretary of state's race is drawing national attention and money.MinnPost reports: This usually sleepy, down-ballot contest is this year one of a handful of secretary of state races across the U.S. testing whether the Donald Trump-led denial of the 2020 election results has political potency. "The Real Winner of GOP's 2022 Primaries Was Denial of 2020 Election," read one headline from Bloomberg. "Dems light up airwaves in key secretary of state races," was the headline in Politico. Both include the Minnesota race among those being targeted. And it's not just about national news stories. But the same campaigns making headlines, at least on the Democratic side, are being supported by millions of dollars of television and digital campaign ads as well as direct mail – both supporting their reelections and denouncing their GOP opponents.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsed 3rd District DFL Rep. Dean Phillips for reelection. MPR's Mark Zdechlik reports the business group generally backs more Republicans than Democrats and says it's supporting Phillips because of his commitment to improve the business environment. Phillips sais Thursday he will work across the party lines to help businesses and workers. "America is nothing without its workforce and its employers, its job creators," Phillips said. "And some say that you have to choose one or the other, that they're mutually exclusive. And I say they're mutually mandatory. Supporting American workers, people and its businesses is the core responsibility of members of Congress." Earlier this week Phillips' Republican challenger Tom Weiler blamed Phillips and other Democrats' policies for inflation.
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