Minnesota candidates draw national support as election nears

Candidates for Minnesota's top political offices made closing arguments Friday at separate St. Paul rallies, with control of state government up for grabs next week.

"You are not voting just for the people. You are voting for our shared values: A belief in the democracy, a belief that this is a union state and always will be, a state that protects women's rights, that can have a conversation about guns," Gov. Tim Walz said to Democrats assembled in the cold morning air outside the State Capitol.

Republicans soon followed with their own statehouse rally, seeking to crack DFL dominance of statewide offices and expand their power in the Legislature. Republican Scott Jensen has been running to unseat Walz, who led the state through four turbulent years marked by the pandemic and social unrest.

"We all have a role to play in this election. We know the issues," Jensen's running mate Matt Birk told supporters in the Capitol rotunda. "It's crime, it's inflation and the economy, and it's education. Those are the things that are under attack, those are the things that are depriving many Minnesotans of the American dream."

The Minnesota Secretary of State's Office reported a surge in absentee balloting by the end of this week, with nearly 452,000 absentee ballots accepted as of Thursday compared with roughly 282,000 that had been accepted a week earlier.

The state is on track to exceed the early voting total during the last midterm election in 2018. Some 410,000 absentee ballots had been accepted at this time that year.

That didn't stop the parties from pitching disparate messages to remaining undecided voters. The national chairs of both political parties joined the rallies on Friday: Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. The multimillion-dollar races for Minnesota's top offices have drawn national attention this year.

Tuesday's election is a chance for voters to pick the next governor and other statewide officials. Control of Congress and the Legislature also hang in the balance.

McDaniel's stop in St. Paul was her second visit to the state in recent weeks. In October she attended an event to support Second Congressional District candidate Tyler Kistner.

"We are expanding the map. We're in states like Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, Connecticut, Rhode Island. States we haven't been in before, because we feel like our policies and our message resonates everywhere across the country," she said.

Republicans in Minnesota have not held one of the constitutional officer posts — governor and lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state or auditor — since former Gov. Tim Pawlenty. But GOP candidates are optimistic that economic challenges and rising crime are bolstering their case that it's time for change.

Harrison, meanwhile, said he's been meaning to travel to Minnesota for months and finally got the chance.

"You want to make sure you stand up for your friends when they ask for support," the DNC chairman said, calling Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison a "dear friend."

Ellison is in a close race with Republican Jim Schultz. The attorney general acknowledged Friday morning that the race is tight, but he told the crowd at the Capitol that it would be won by those working to get out the DFL's message over the weekend.

"You are the people who will carry the message [of] prosperity for all, for the right to organize for all, to consumer protection for all, to a right for pensions for everybody," Ellison said.

All of the state's Democratic constitutional officers, and other politicians including U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, were there. While they presented a unified front and touched on some similar issues — including abortion access and threats against democracy — their messaging also varied widely depending on their office.

Ellison highlighted consumer protection. State Auditor Julie Blaha talked about fraud prevention. Secretary of State Steve Simon emphasized voter turnout. Others discussed work in Washington, the Biden administration or protecting unions.

The Republican rally focused in part on supporting veterans, but speakers also returned to a trio of common concerns: inflation, public safety and education.

Not all of that party's lineup is campaigning together in the final days. Secretary of State candidate Kim Crockett was the only other statewide candidate at Jensen's event Friday. However, as GOP candidates travel across Minnesota, they are largely zeroed in on the same themes.

On Friday morning, state auditor candidate Ryan Wilson's campaign said he was tied up with a meeting on his "Support Our Schools" plan. Before the GOP rally, Jensen held a news conference claiming Walz has been "soft on crime" and needs to do more to lock up violent offenders. Saturday, Schultz is holding a "defend the police" event where he will make a similar critique of Ellison.

Ellison will join other elected DFLers at some of the suburban stops during the party's get-out-the-vote rallies on Saturday.

Even as he runs for a third term, the office led by the DFL's Simon is the lead state agency overseeing the election. Simon said the latest absentee ballot data tell him two things: "There is energy and enthusiasm out there" this election cycle, and that "people have come to accept and embrace absentee voting in greater numbers."

Simon added he expects a spike in accepted absentee ballots in the final days before Election Day. He anticipates the state's final voter turnout rate will exceed 60%, again putting Minnesota in contention for the top spot in the nation.

This year's early voting total is sure to fall far below the record number of absentee ballots accepted for the 2020 election, when more people voted by mail as the COVID-19 pandemic raged. Nearly 2 million Minnesotans voted absentee that year as the virus spread and vaccines were not yet available.

About 8,450 absentee ballots have been rejected so far this year, according to the Secretary of State's Office data. Nearly 40% were rejected because they did not have the required witness signature, while about 20% had no listed address, title or notary stamp.

The witness signature requirement is back this year after being waived in 2020 to ease voting access during the pandemic.

Those who've had ballots rejected will be notified by local officials and sent a new one.

Minnesotans can track the status of their absentee ballot on the Secretary of State's website. With the election just days away, Simon and other candidates on the ballot are encouraging Minnesotans who haven't yet submitted absentee ballots to drop them off in person at voting centers instead of mailing them.

Ballots must be received — not postmarked — by Election Day.

Under state law, Minnesotans may deliver no more than three other ballots.

Simon noted that those who have absentee ballots but have not filled them out can choose to vote on Election Day instead if they prefer. Their blank absentee ballots will be "immediately voided" in that case.

Those with last-minute questions about voting can visit the Secretary of State website at mnvotes.gov or call the office at 1-877-600-VOTE.