Good morning, you’re halfway to the holiday weekend. Warmer again.

Gov. Tim Walz’s campaign is in a strong financial position entering the election year. The Democratic incumbent’s campaign said Tuesday it had $3.6 million in the bank at the start of this year. That’s after raising about that amount in 2021. A half-dozen Republicans are vying to take him on. Those that began their campaigns last year – all but the latest entrant Kendall Qualls – will report their 2021 fundraising figures over the coming weeks. Incumbents traditionally enjoy a financial edge so anything less than first place in the money race would be a disappointment to Walz and his allies. Also, remember that outside groups face fewer fundraising restrictions and tend to play a large role in pivotal races. If that money starts flowing in – and in big amounts – you’ll know the sides see a truly competitive race.

Qualls got in Sunday morning with a cable TV interview on Fox News. I had my first chance to speak with him as a candidate on Tuesday. While we’ll have more coverage on air and online at MPR News in the leadup to the Feb. 1 kickoff caucuses, here are some tidbits from the interview. 

Qualls said he entered the race amid a sense “the field is wide open.” I got a somewhat expected “I’m going to win the endorsement” answer when I asked about his plans to abide by the GOP convention’s decision – essentially a pledge to step aside if somebody else wins the delegates’ formal backing.  When pressed, he said:  “Here's what I can tell you. The party needs to be unified; we will win the endorsement. And I'll make sure that the party is unified as we go into the general election so we can beat Governor Walz. I can tell you that for sure.”

The rest of the field has been engaged for months in candidate forums and debates. They’ve all had to take a stand on the 2020 presidential race election outcome, something of a new litmus test for some Republican party factions. When I asked Qualls if he believed Democratic President Joe Biden was legitimately elected, he said: “Yeah, you know, he was, he is the president. He's President Biden. Now, 60 percent of the people in the country wish he wasn't based on his job performance rating. And the same thing with our governor, Governor Walz. Fifty percent of Minnesotans have a negative view of his job performance. So I think what we need to focus on is the here and now.”

Asked how his approach to COVID-19 would have differed from Walz, Qualls pointed back to the incumbent. “Unfortunately, we've had a mandate fixation on shutting down things that has been a complete overreach. We've lost businesses that are never coming back. And the numbers would not have changed much at all. And so what we have is just complete overreach, an over-mandate, fixation on mandates, dictates and regulations that is top down and not allowed to make actual decisions with what's happening locally within our state. So I think there was a big overreach there. So unfortunately, these things can't be undone. And we have some things that we need to actually fix here in the state of Minnesota.”

Check out this NPR interview with former President Donald Trump, which ended abruptly as host Steve Inskeep pushed back on claims of widespread election fraud.

The governor’s office is no doubt the top prize on November’s ballot in Minnesota. But control of the Legislature will also be hotly contested. Like it or not, money is intertwined with politics. And every campaign cycle seems to attract more of it. Just before the arrival of the high-stakes 2022 election year, state campaign regulators published a report showing how much “independent expenditure” money rolled into the 2020 Minnesota campaign. By independent expenditure, they mean money spent by groups apart from candidates. It’s the type that feeds more caustic ads and mailers than the hopefuls are often willing to produce themselves. The upshot is that those groups dwarfed candidate spending in about a quarter of the 201 individual races for House and Senate control. In some key contests, it was by a lot. That 2020 battle that left Minnesota with a divided-power Legislature saw its first $2 million state Senate races – four of them actually. This could be the year that $3 million is breached.

Legislative committees are meeting with greater frequency in the leadup to the 2022 session, which begins Jan. 31. Reporter Tim Pugmire sat through a hearing Tuesday of the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee; the panel was delving into public defender woes. Minnesota public defenders say they've been struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they’re asking state lawmakers for some help.

Several public defenders outlined their caseload and staffing concerns during the informational hearing. They’re looking for a supplemental budget increase this year. Brenda Lightbody, an assistant public defender in the First Judicial District, told lawmakers that she and her colleagues are exhausted, and morale is low. “The pandemic and the backlog have illuminated problems brewing for years. Our frustration is about inadequate compensation compared to prosecutors, but it’s more than that,” she said. “It’s about a system that doesn’t support us.” DFL Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, the committee chair, said because of the large budget surplus she expects to consider some supplemental spending items during the upcoming session. More here on this topic from John Croman at KARE 11.

The DFL-led House and Republican-led Senate remain on different pages when it comes to COVID-19 protocols for the 2022 session. The House will require staff to certify they are vaccinated or submit to weekly testing if they report to the office, per a new set of federal workplace rules. The Senate will wait for a court fight to be resolved before imposing a similar requirement. In both cases, lawmakers themselves are exempt. Read more from the Star Tribune’s Jessie Van Berkel.

The onslaught of new COVID-19 infections isn’t letting up. MPR News reporter Tim Nelson (with an assist from our ace data reporter David Montgomery) has a rundown on the record surge in cases, which only accounts for tests done at labs that report their results to the state. Remember, many people are finding out they have the virus through home tests these days.

Lastly, former state Rep. Frank Moe is in hospice amid his cancer fight. The DFLer served two terms in the House starting in 2005 representing a Bemidji-area district. The former teacher had a calm demeanor and a memorable hobby: mushing with his sled dogs. Peace to him and his family.