Some of my focus will be on the Second Congressional District, where I live and am constantly inundated with mailers and TV ads. It’s Minnesota’s last swing district, right?

Typically, I cover Hennepin County for the Star Tribune. But I spent plenty of years toiling under the Capitol dome while working for the St. Paul paper.

Still, I’m new to this newsletter thing, so bear with me. Let’s start with the life-blood of U.S. politics — money.

CAMPAIGN CASH: Minnesota Democrats and Republicans shipped out news releases Wednesday touting how much they’ve raised so far this election cycle. I’ll cut to the chase, the DFL has a lot more money. How much more?

Party Chair Ken Martin says DFLers have a “crippling” 9 to 1 cash advantage over the GOP heading into the last 40 or so days before the Nov. 5 vote. The entire House is up for election this year and Democrats say they raised $5.6 million in 2024 including more than $3.1 million since July. So far this cycle, the House DFL brought in $7.66 million.

House Republicans also say they are setting records. They’ve raised $1.85 million, outpacing the previous 2018 record by $485,000. House Republican Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, says they surpassed 2022 for unique contributions and have “knocked on a quarter million doors” in their effort to race to “restore balance to state government” that’s currently controlled by Democrats.

There is a single Senate seat on the ballot that will determine control of the currently deadlocked chamber.

ABSENTEE HEADACHES: Speaking of the Nov. 5 election, voters already can cast ballots. Early voting started last Friday. As quickly as it kicked off we started getting reports of misprints and other issues with absentee ballots.

Last week, voters discovered the party affiliations of candidates for House District 23A in Faribault County were mixed up. This week, some voters in Zumbro Falls in Wabasha County got ballots with the wrong House race. And in New Hope, ballots had the wrong middle initial for a candidate.

Meanwhile, Hennepin County said Wednesday evening it sent out about 28 absentee ballots that were missing ovals for voters to fill in due to a printing error. County elections officials say voters can ask for a new ballot, mark their existing ballot in an obvious way or vote in person on Election Day.

GOPHERS VS. WOLVERINES: Sounds like Gov. Tim Walz will squeeze a little Big Ten football into his latest campaign swing. The Detroit Free Press reports that Walz will cheer on the Gophers when they square off against Michigan in Ann Arbor on Saturday.

Walz will be at the game as part of a larger campaign event, where he’ll meet with students to “speak about the importance of registering to vote and the power of their participation,” according to the Washington Post.

The FREEP also notes that former President Trump will be on hand for Saturday’s much anticipated game between Alabama and Georgia.

When Minnesota played Michigan last October they got hammered 52-10. The Gophers are 25-77-3 against the Wolverines since 1892. Maybe Walz will bring them some luck Saturday, kickoff is at 11 a.m.

HOUSE, SENATE DODGE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: A short-term funding measure to avert a government shutdown cleared both chambers Wednesday and now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for approval.

It will keep federal agencies funded through Dec. 20 and includes an additional $231 million for the Secret Service after two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump.

Nearly all of Minnesota’s 10 federal lawmakers voted for the funding bill with the exception of GOP Reps. Michelle Fischbach and Brad Finstad, who joined 80 Republicans in the House in opposing the measure. Meanwhile, 18 Republicans voted against it in the Senate.

WHERE’S WALZ:

Gov. Walz has no public events planned Thursday.

READING LIST

Jana Hollingsworth has a great story about the Duluth mayor’s girlfriend and campaign manager and how she is involved in city business.
This amazingly reported story on a deserter from the Russian Army is a must read. Yes it is long.
Opposition from Windom residents means a crypto currency mining operation will not be located there, Jp Lawrence reports.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted.
I’m super bummed that I missed this Sturgill Simpson show.

Keep us posted at hotdish@startribune.com.

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