Good morning. It’s the first Friday in June and the 2024 legislative session ended May 19, which was exactly 2,374 days ago. That’s how it feels with the filing/withdrawal/endorsement season wrapping and steamrolling us all right into campaign mode.

We’ll have new Minnesota Poll results starting Monday, a joint project of the Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11. The poll inquired about the 2024 presidential race, former President Donald Trump’s criminal convictions, Israel’s war with Hamas and other issues. Something to look forward to on Monday morning. Have I seen the results already? Yes.

At the end of business Thursday, state Sen. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, announced her resignation from her state Senate seat to focus on her run for Congress. That leaves the Senate sitting at a 33-33 partisan split. As reporter Ryan Faircloth points out, this puts control of the Senate on the November ballot and all eyes on the west metro.

Morrison is an OB-GYN and a respected member of the caucus, but the DFL wanted her to resign so her seat would be on the general election ballot rather than later with a lower-turnout special election. She won her seat in 2022 by nearly 13 percentage points. Morrison received 27,222 votes. Her GOP opponent Kathleen Fowke got 21,128.

Let’s have more fun with numbers. In 45A, DFL Rep. Patty Acomb of Minnetonka got 14,915 votes while the GOP candidate got 9,108. In 45B, Rep. Andrew Myers of Tonka Bay won with 12,830 while the DFLer got 11,356. The district is overwhelmingly white and prosperous. In addition to those already mentioned, the district includes all or parts of Excelsior, Minnetrista, Mound, Orono, St. Bonifacius, Shorewood, Spring Park, and Wayzata.

Let’s all get a lake place on Lake Minnetonka for the summer, shall we? But beware of highway detours this weekend, per Tim Harlow.

Come 2025, Minnesota could have a GOP House and Senate. One can imagine the Republicans ushering in a golden era of bipartisan cooperation that they’ve sought for the past two sessions. Gov. Tim Walz’s veto would gather dust as he and the GOP work together for One Minnesota. Or maybe not.

Still talking campaign, Republican-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Royce White is already plenty cranky. I attempted to talk to him for a story about a federal campaign complaint filed against him by a national watchdog group. White wasn’t interested in answering questions. He wanted to ask them - which isn’t how this generally works. Repeated attempts to ask him for comment culminated in him cursing at me and the call curtailed. To be fair, perhaps White was having a rough day as his provocateur pal Steve Bannon was ordered to report to prison July 1 on his contempt sentence.

The elections complaint alleges White misappropriated $157,000 from his 2022 congressional campaign for personal use and isn’t properly tracking fundraising or spending for his current Senate campaign. It’s worth a read, I promise.

Far from home, Gov. Tim Walz and First Lady Gwen Walz were in Normandy for the commemoration of the D-Day, the pivotal Allied invasion that turned the tide of World War II. Our D.C. correspondent Sydney Kashiwagi recapped the day commemorated by other Minnesotans here and there as well. In case you missed it, see the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s emotional moment with a veteran at the event. As stark and evocative as the white crosses are in photos, they are an emotional gut punch in person.

NEW LAW: I talked to Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero about a change to the Human Rights Act that affects those with transient physical conditions. The change grew from a lawsuit brought against the Minnesota Agricultural Society, which runs the State Fair. Until now, Lucero said state law failed to recognize that transient conditions can be difficult to manage even in remission. “When we get stuck on: ‘Are you technically disabled under the law,’ I think we are missing the fact that we are humans, we are families,” Lucero said.

WHERE’S WALZ: He’s still in the land of Brie and bread. He’ll visit the Saint-Gobain and the Cargill France SAS headquarters. Walz also has a call with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Far be it from me to question the governor’s priorities, but he’s in France and he’s talking on the phone to Vilsack? Ok. You do you, buddy. Me? I’d go to the recently renovated Piscine Pontoise for a swim followed by a swing through the Musée Marmottan before a walk in the Tuilieries during L’Heure Bleue. (Fun fact: The 1996 movie Blue, which takes place partly in Paris, is a favorite of both yours truly and editor du jour Briana Bierschbach.)

READING LIST

The Clash of the Titans continues as former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg is joining A-Rod and Marc Lore in an attempt to buy the Timberwolves from Glen Taylor. Star Tribune reporters Jeff Day and Chris Hine have the story.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer is Mr. Crypto of Congress, according to a story by semafor. I would have maybe gone with Crypto King or Blockchain Boss. “And under the next administration, I think you’ll see some actual crypto-friendly, stablecoin-friendly, digital asset-friendly laws being put on the books,” he said in an interview.
The tumult and acrimony of Hunter Biden’s years of drug addiction are being laid out in court through a series of former paramours and it’s grim stuff. First Lady Jill Biden is already back from France and in the courtroom.
Colleague Janet Moore reports on the state’s attempts to fix the e-bike rebate fiasco.
A pair of stories from our new northwestern Minnesota correspondent Kim Hyatt.
Point of personal privilege: I dropped my airpods in the Minnesota Senate Building during the Board of Pardons meetings last week. They’re supposedly still there in their little white case, but I haven’t reclaimed them. If you or anyone you know ... raolson@startribune.com.
We’re still on resignation and withdrawal watch so keep us apprised, s’il vous plaît. Between this Normandy event, the Tour de France and the Olympics, my Francophilia is going to be surging this summer. A bientôt.