Minnesota Now

Minnesota Now is two hours of special election coverage this Wednesday — with host Cathy Wurzer and special co-host Brian Bakst — featuring election results, reaction and analysis of the presidential and local races across Minnesota.

The Minnesota House is in a virtual deadlock with the DFL and GOP each winning or leading in 67 seats — which could be the first even divide in the state house since 1979.

Meanwhile, the DFL maintains control in the state Senate after winning a close special election. We hear from senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy and Secretary of State Steve Simon.

Gov. Tim Walz will be heading back to Minnesota after his unsuccessful turn in the national spotlight — we get reaction from former Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Plus, we hear from the Mayor-elect of St. Cloud, who won by just over 1,000 votes.

Our Gen Z political panelists join for their takes.

And MPR News reporter Mark Zdechlik joins the show live from Washington, D.C., where Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to give a concession speech Wednesday afternoon.

Election day is underway and MPR News reporters and photographers were out at polling stations across the state. Minnesota Now heard from a roundup of reporters about what they’re seeing on the scene in two districts with extremely close races.

Millions of Minnesotans cast their votes Nov. 5. So how exactly does the process work and when will we see results? Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon joins the show to give the election rundown.

It's fair to say most voters might feel a little anxious on election day. MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talks about election anxiety with a professor from the University of Minnesota.

It will likely be a few days before we know the results of the presidential election. In the meantime, “freaking out about the election” discourse has reached a fever pitch. It can feel like there is so much at stake, so much uncertainty, and so little we can control on election day.

In fact, anxiety may be a bipartisan issue this election. The American Psychological Association reported that 8 in 10 Republicans and Democrats say that politics are some of their biggest stressors.

So how can we learn to sit with the unknown? Howard Lavine has been looking into that. He’s a professor of political science and psychology at the University of Minnesota and he chatted with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about election stress and how to combat it.

In the presidential race, 270 is the magic number — 270 Electoral College votes to win the presidency. A states’ allocation of electors, such as Minnesota’s ten electors, is based on population.

There are 538 members of the Electoral College — which means a presidential candidate must secure the backing of 270 electors to win. This election cycle, a lot of attention has been paid to the importance of seven battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Each campaign needs to win those state’s electoral college votes for victory.

A number of organizations have created models to predict the result based on some combination of recent polling, demographic information and other data. It’s complicated. To parse it out, Hamline University political science and law professor David Schultz joins MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to chat about how each candidate could get to those 270 votes.

Less than eight hours before the polls close, MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke to two reporters live from polling locations about what they heard from voters about ultra-competitive races.

In Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, MPR News reporter Sarah Thamer spoke about the region’s race for U.S. House that is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in the state. Three-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Angie Craig is facing a challenge from former federal prosecutor and Republican nominee Joe Teirab. The district comprises much of the south metro area, but also stretches deep into rural south-central Minnesota.

Cathy also spoke to MPR News reporter Dan Kraker, who spent the morning at two townships in northern Minnesota: Midway and Thomson townships. Both of those townships saw an extremely close 2020 presidential race. Midway Township is also voting on an extremely competitive race for the Minnesota House, which would help decide control of the Minnesota Legislature.

Millions of voters sent in their ballots early and even more are casting their vote Nov. 5. Steve Simon is overseeing all voting in the state as Minnesota as Secretary of State. He joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to explain how Election Day is going and remind voters about how and when to get their votes in, how those votes are counted once they’re cast and when we can expect results in Minnesota.

Minnesota college student Addie Raum grew up valuing civic engagement. But as a moderate conservative voter, participating in her first presidential election means making a difficult choice. She talks with MPR News about her journey to casting her vote.

We are less than 24 hours until Election Day and the campaigns are making their final push to get out the vote. MPR News correspondent Mark Zdechlik is on the campaign trail with Gov. Tim Walz and joins us from Wisconsin with what Walz is doing in these final hours.

This wild election cycle has been a rollercoaster for a young undecided voter in Minnesota. We trace her journey to the ballot box.

And health care is top of mind for many when they cast their vote. Dr. Jon Hallberg joins us with insight.

Fan-favorite Dessa shares cocktail recipes from her new cocktail book inspired by her latest album.

And the Vikings pull off a win and the Minnesota United move on in the playoffs after penalty kicks. We break down those games.

Three turnovers and three touchdowns. That was the story for the Vikings in Sunday night’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.

After struggling at first and losing possession several times, the Vikes came back to win 21 to 13.

Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson join MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk game highlights and other sports news.

Minnesota Musician Dessa is coming out with a cocktail book, titled after her last album, “Bury the Lede” with a cocktail named after each track.

The recipes were created by Marco Zappia, one of the creative forces behind 3LECHE, a fermentation company.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Dessa and Zappia about the book.