Politics Friday

The Minnesota Legislature’s 2026 session started with reflection about the deadly shootings that killed state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. 

Another lawmaker, state DFL Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, survived a connected shooting at their home. Hoffman was honored in the Senate chamber.

It was the first time the Legislature had been in order since months of traumatic and tragic events left them and the state grieving and challenged to take action.

The session will go fast, with just about three months to squeeze everything in. There will be debates about fraud, immigration, guns, taxes, work requirements for benefit recipients, social media guardrails, data center regulations — just to name a few.

Another thing worth keeping an eye on this year: The tone lawmakers take with each other. 

We’ll have a recap of the first week of session and committee hearings. We’ll also hear from Colin Hortman, the son of Melissa and Mark Hortman, about grief and finding ways to honor his parents.  

Minnesota lawmakers will face constituent pressure to take action on some potent issues from guns control, immigration, fraud, taxes and more as the convene the 2026 session on Tuesday.

The Capitol also remains deeply split, with legislative seats almost evenly divided between the parties in the House and Senate.  Progress will be a challenge in an election year when some key players are looking up the political ladder or worried about the political winds back home.

MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst talks with the Minnesota’s four caucus leaders about what’s in store for the session and what could get accomplished.

Guests:

• Republican Speaker of the Minnesota House Lisa Demuth, of Cold Spring.
• House DFL Caucus Leader Rep. Zack Stephenson, of Coon Rapids.
• DFL Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, of St. Paul.
• Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, of East Grand Forks.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation or subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.

Tens of thousands of voters across Minnesota convened at schools, community centers and other gathering places to pick their preferred candidates for governor.

They also vented their concerns on immigration, fraud and other priorities for the state’s major political parties.

MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst recaps the results from caucus night and where campaign 2026 goes from here.

House Speaker Lisa Demuth finished atop the GOP straw poll and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar cemented her place as the DFL Party’s frontrunner for governor. Both declined to come on the show, either taped or live, to discuss the results.

But Kendall Qualls, whose second place showing improved on his first run for governor, is a guest. Independent candidate Mike Newcome, who could be a November factor, also joins the show.

Later, political analysis from caucus results and the broader electoral landscape, and we’ll hear from the voters themselves.

Guests:

• Kendall Qualls is an Army veteran, think tank founder and a Republican candidate running for Minnesota’s 2026 governor’s race. 
• Mike Newcome is a business owner and a Forward Independence Party candidate for governor.
• Todd Rapp is the president and CEO at Rapp Strategies and a veteran DFL strategist.
• Preya Samsundar is a GOP political analyst and a campaign consultant.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation or subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS. 

For the first time, we’re hearing a detailed account of the shooting that seriously wounded State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, last summer. It was the same night that authorities say the attacker killed his colleague, Rep. Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark Hortman.

On this special episode of Politics Friday, MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst talks with Sen. Hoffman about the attack on his life, the healing process and his new sense of purpose.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation. 

Subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.   

In any other week, at any other time, the abrupt end of a governor’s reelection campaign would be the kind of momentous story that dominates the headlines for many days — but this isn’t one of those weeks.

Minnesota is under tremendous pressure from internal and external forces. Any sense of civic cohesion is being strained.  

On this special episode of Politics Friday, MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst talks with All Things Considered host Clay Masters and Capitol correspondent Dana Ferguson about a week that will go down as one of the most memorable in Minnesota history. The trio puts it into context and discusses how it will shape the election-year ahead.

Guests:

• Clay Masters is the host All Things Considered for MPR News.
• Dana Ferguson is a political correspondent for MPR News. 

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation. 

Subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.   

In a momentous start to the 2026 election year, Gov. Tim Walz announced he would end his reelection campaign. The announcement itself was scripted and restrained. The next day, Walz took questions about the decision and the gloves came off.

On this special broadcast of Politics Friday, MPR News host Clay Masters and politics editor Brian Bakst cover Walz’s first press conference since dropping out of the race. In it, Walz described the change of course as a personal one rather than a reflection on his chances of winning the race. He also commented on fraud investigations, Trump administration actions affecting Minnesotans and the pressure he plans to put on state lawmakers over gun safety and other issues.

The special also includes comments from former Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips and from Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation. 

Subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.   

Downtown Minneapolis is short on public restrooms, and City Council Member Katie Cashman is hoping to leverage a languishing streetcar fund to boost the toilet tally.

The council votes on the 2026 city budget Tuesday night, and money is tight; Cashman’s proposal carries a $700,000 price tag.

Cashman, who represents Ward 7, joined Cathy Wurzer on Morning Edition Tuesday to talk about the pros, cons and concerns of her bathroom proposal for the Nicollet Avenue transit corridor.

Back in 2019, there was an effort to provide more restrooms downtown, but the city used Port-A-Potties and experienced some safety, security and maintenance concerns, Cashman said. Pre-COVID-19 pandemic, permanent public facilities were more widely available, too.

“For example, the ABC parking ramps — those large ramps over by Target Field — had public restrooms, and since COVID, they just have not reopened,” she continued. “So we're dealing with a big lack of bathrooms all throughout downtown, throughout the city, and my proposal is to go with a private vendor who is providing more high-tech, standalone bathrooms.”

Listen to the conversation by clicking the player button above.

It was an eventful off-year election across the country.

In Minnesota, St. Paul elected a new mayor, state Rep. Kaohly Her. It was in a surprise repudiation of the incumbent, Mayor Melvin Carter.  Across the river, Minneapolis voters gave their mayor, Jacob Frey, another term.  

As the dust settles from the the 2025 election, momentum for the 2026 midterms is picking up. Minnesota will see an election as big as they come as voters will elect a governor, a new U.S. senator, key positions from the attorney general to the secretary of state, eight members of the U.S. House and the entire state Legislature — which is now as closely divided as ever. 

MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst and a pair of political analysts look back at this week’s voting and look ahead to what’s in store next year. 

Later in the hour, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Schwarze made his case on why he’s running and what he’ll have to navigate to reach the fall ballot. 

Updated on Nov. 13: There were some points in Schwarze’s interview where he referenced proven and alleged fraud in government-managed programs in Minnesota that required a closer look.

He said “it’s purported now $6-8 billion that Peggy Flanagan and Tim Walz spent on fraudulent donations to foreign interest groups this last term.”

Fraud is a legitimate public concern — one that is causing the Walz administration political problems and leading to new administration actions to detect and prevent it. There have been no independent or official reports that have the numbers that high. The suggestion that it was for “donations to foreign interest groups” is a stretch — even as some nutrition aid wound up being transferred abroad by alleged or convicted scammers.

Federal prosecutor Joe Thompson, the lead U.S. attorney on the Feeding Our Future and other fraud investigations involving federal passthrough dollars, has said publicly that fraud in Minnesota is believed to be “in the billions of dollars.”

Further into the interview, Schwarze claimed that Flanagan, the current lieutenant governor and a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, “racked up $354,000 on a government credit card” over two years without receipts.

The attribution to Flanagan is false, according to auditors who first used that accurately cited figure in a recent audit. Legislative Auditor Judy Randall told MPR News this week that Flanagan wasn’t issued a purchasing card during the period reviewed.

“Those payments related to Governor’s Office employees (not the Lieutenant Governor) who had state purchasing cards during that period,” Randall said, relaying a message from the auditor directly involved in the review.

The audit did raise concern over lack of required documentation tied to the expenses, but the governor’s office said new procedures have since been put in place to address the reporting gaps.

Guests:

• Chas Anderson is the co-CEO and senior principal at Park Street Public and a longtime Republican strategist.
• Todd Rapp is the president and CEO at Rapp Strategies and a veteran DFL strategist.
• Adam Schwarze is U.S. Marine veteran and former Navy SEAL seeking the Republican nomination for Minnesota’s U.S. Senate seat.
• Peter Cox is a correspondent for MPR News.
• Michelle Griffith is a reporter for the Minnesota Reformer.
• Nathaniel Minor is a reporter for the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation or subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS. 

Voters in Minneapolis are electing a mayor this fall, and it's a crowded race with 15 names on the ballot.

Four of the leading candidates for Minneapolis mayor address key issues and how they intend to lead their city in a MPR News/Minnesota Star Tribune debate. The candidates were selected because they’ve been the most active in their contacts with voters and in putting resources into the race.

Incumbent Jacob Frey, state Sen. Omar Fateh, business owner and attorney Jazz Hampton and minister DeWayne Davis address public safety, property taxes, minimum wage and downtown development.

MPR News senior editor Brandt Williams and The Minnesota Star Tribune’s metro columnist Eric Roper moderated the Minneapolis mayoral candidate debate from the UBS Forum in downtown St. Paul.

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  MPR News/Star Tribune debate Minneapolis mayor candidates differ over policing, minimum wage at
  
  

This event was recorded on Oct. 27. Watch the video stream of the debate on the MPR News YouTube channel.

Guests:

• Jacob Frey is the two-term incumbent mayor for the city of Minneapolis.
• Omar Fateh is a DFL state senator serving Minneapolis.
• Jazz Hampton is a business owner and attorney in Minneapolis.
• DeWayne Davis is the lead minister of the Plymouth Congregational Church of Minneapolis.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full debate or subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS. 

Rochester is changing in many ways. City blocks are filled with construction work zones. Streets are littered with detours. Cranes tower over the skyline as a massive makeover plays out.

Much of it is tied to a major medical expansion associated with the largest employer around — Mayo Clinic.  

There have also been political shifts. Rochester is one of the shrinking number of places outside of the Twin Cities-area where Democrats seem to have an upper hand. It wasn’t always that way.

On this special broadcast of Politics Friday, MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst heads to Rochester, where he and his guests talk about what’s behind the spruce-up and where the city’s politics fit in the southeastern part of the state.

Plus, we’ll meet a candidate hoping to make his way to Congress from southern Minnesota. He’s an underdog out of the gate. 

Then, we’ll get to know more about Molly Castle Work, the newest MPR News reporter based in Rochester, and a special field production. Later, a politics panel with Dana Ferguson and Catharine Richert.

Guests:

• Kim Norton is the Mayor of Rochester. She became the first woman to be elected Mayor of Rochester in 2018 after a prior stint in the Legislature. 
• Patrick Seeb is the Destination Medical Center (DMC) Economic Development Agency Executive Director. 
• Sen. Carla Nelson is a Republican representing the southeastern area of the state, now in her fifth term.  
• Jake Johnson is a Democrat running for election to the U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesota's 1st Congressional District. 
• Molly Castle Work is an MPR News reporter based in Rochester. She covers health care in southeast Minnesota. 
• Dana Ferguson is a political correspondent for MPR News. She has covered Minnesota politics and state government for Forum News Service.
• Catharine Richert is a correspondent based in Rochester, where she covers southeast Minnesota for MPR News. She also leads Talking Sense, a reporting project helping Minnesotans have hard conversations about politics, better.  

This discussion was recorded at 125 LIVE in Rochester, Minn. on Oct. 21.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation or subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.