| The knotted-up Minnesota Legislature could remain a source of legal and political jockeying all the way up to the start of the 2025 session. The 67-67 House and 34-33 Senate make even the slightest switchup potent. Dana Ferguson and Brian run down some of the scenarios for legal and seating challenges. One or several of the strategies could be attempted as parties seek the upper hand. The bar on successful legal challenges will be high but don’t discount what might happen in the House itself, where members get to judge the qualifications of their peers and hardball politics are possible. Additional legal filings and a hearing in a residency case are expected this week.
Scott County Attorney’s Office said 20 missing absentee ballots in a close House race were likely tossed. Dana reports Scott County Attorney Rob Hocevar announced in preliminary investigation results last week that 20 absentee ballots from Shakopee were accepted in October but not counted. The ballots and their secrecy envelopes were likely thrown away accidentally between the time they were submitted and Election Day. The information comes in a House district where DFL Rep. Brad Tabke won reelection by just 14 votes. His GOP opponent Aaron Paul argued the result is clouded and shouldn’t stand. The Minnesota House Republican Caucus has said it plans to challenge the result in court.
Hunter Biden isn’t going to prison. President Joe Biden pardoned his son for federal felony gun and tax convictions despite previously saying he wouldn’t do that . Hunter Biden faced years in prison. The president’s son was a favorite target of conservatives and who was under investigation since prior to Biden taking his latest and last office. In a statement released Sunday evening, Biden said, “Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” alleging that the prosecution of his son was politically motivated and a “miscarriage of justice.” Biden added, “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son.” The move comes as incoming President Donald Trump named a person whom he pardoned in his first term to a high diplomatic post and as Trump considers pardoning people convicted of Jan. 6 offenses. The pardon power of the president is wide reaching and the final word.
It’s forecast week of the budget kind. Minnesota finance officials are due to release their comprehensive economic report Wednesday. It’s one of two done per year that give state leaders a read on how Minnesota’s revenue and spending patterns are shaping up. This one is the report that Gov. Tim Walz will rely on when crafting his two-year budget proposal. The Legislature will get an update in February before they have to write and pass budget bills.
A case challenging how the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management handled social equity license applications is moving to the state Court of Appeals. On Wednesday, the court directed OCM to supply more information on the process it used to decide who moved forward. The judicial process will dictate whether a lottery can be rescheduled to determine who is preapproved to run cannabis businesses once the legal market launches and how that might occur. A district court judge halted the lottery indefinitely after applicants who were denied licenses sued OCM. The judge in that case didn’t rule on the merits of the case and pushed the matter to a higher court.
Minnesota DFL Chair Ken Martin will have a rival he knows well in the race to lead the national Democratic Party. Wisconsin Democratic Chair Ben Wikler has entered the race to be the next DNC chair. An election is planned for early next year. With the party out of the White House and in the minority in Congress, the DNC chair will be a prominent voice for the party as it approaches the midterm elections and plans for the 2028 presidential race.
Departing Rep. Dean Phillips says he has no plans to run for governor or U.S. Senate in 2026. The Star Tribune’s Elliot Hughes reports Phillips is not sure what he’ll do once he departs from the U.S. House in January. The wealthy businessman from the state’s 3rd Congressional District opted out of reelection to challenge President Joe Biden in the presidential primaries. Representative-elect Kelly Morrison, a Democrat, will replace Philips next session. Hughes reports that Phillips appeared at a crowded farewell town hall last week and did not apologize for his outspokenness on the two-party system and his decision to challenge Biden in the primaries. “I would tell people not what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear… I did so sometimes at personal cost — in fact, regularly at personal cost — and I tell you I’ve never, ever felt better about myself than I do tonight in front of all of you.”
We know there’s a popular film out recasting the story of “The Wizard of Oz,” but we’d be remiss if we failed to note that a pair of ruby slippers worn in the 1939 film are up for auction. Dana brings us this update: Bidding for the sparkling shoes worn by none other than Grand Rapids native Judy Garland closes on Saturday. And, as of latest check, the current offer for the slippers defies gravity (Dana can throw these references all day): $1.15 million. The city of Grand Rapids and the Judy Garland Museum are making a bid to bring back the historic props and got an assist from the state in their effort. Minnesota Legacy amendment funds alone wouldn’t cover the current price tag, but museum leaders have said they’re hopeful that a magical figure can help them out. You know what they say, “There’s no place like home.”
Finally, the Minnesota Capitol press corps will lose two valuable and well-liked members. Star Tribune photographer extraordinaire Glen Stubbe is in his final days before his retirement after more than three decades behind the lens. If you work in or around Minnesota politics or take in coverage of it, you’ve seen his work. He’s respected across the political spectrum. Meanwhile, KARE 11 reporter, cameraman and political bard John Croman has said his goodbyes. He signed off last week after a career that included a long stint in Minnesota’s Capitol crew. John never took himself too seriously and was the guy you could count on to bring a smile to your face during the grueling stretches. | 