Good morning, and happy Thursday.  

MPR’s Brian Bakst has a look this morning at the biographies of the leading candidates for Minnesota governor.  At their roots, Tim Walz and Scott Jensen have a fair amount in common. Both candidates for Minnesota governor grew up in rural towns, exposing them to the camaraderie and work ethic they say stuck with them. Both immersed themselves in high school sports to feed their competitive juices. And both lost a parent at a formative time in their lives.  Walz, the DFL incumbent, and Jensen, the GOP challenger, also have a fair amount that sets apart their respective climbs from small-town upbringings to the grand political stage of a governor’s race. The “where they came from” details sometimes get crowded out in campaigns defined by attack ads and deep differences on issues. But they can be illuminating and help explain why political hopefuls see the world as they do. MPR News will host the final governor’s race debate on Friday, where policy divides will take center stage. But the candidates have opened up about key elements of their past and what led them to this point. 

Along with Tuesday’s endorsement from Donald Trump, Jensen is getting more outside help for his campaign, as noted in this story from MPR’s Tim Nelson: Most independent polls have put Walz up by single digits, although the gap has been narrowing. The tightening race has given Jensen some steam heading into the final two weeks. And the Republican Governors Association, which had been on the sidelines of this contents, plowed $750,000 into a new Minnesota group that plans to launch anti-Walz TV ads this week. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will visit Monday to raise more money for the RGA play. Walz has had significant financial backing from the Democratic Governors Association, which has helped pay for a barrage of anti-Jensen ads since summer. 

Another defendant charged in an alleged $250 million fraud scheme connected to the nonprofit Feeding Our Future pleaded guilty Wednesday,reports MPR’s Matt Sepic. Abdul Abubakar Ali, 40, of St. Paul is among 50 people whom the government has charged with defrauding two U.S. Department of Agriculture child nutrition programs. During a plea hearing in Minneapolis, Ali admitted that he falsely claimed to have served 1.3 million meals over six months through a nonprofit called Youth Inventors Lab. Ali told U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel that he did not serve any meals at all. Ali said he sent fake invoices to an alleged co-conspirator who operated a catering company. Ali faces 30 to 37 months in prison under sentencing guidelines. In exchange for pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and agreeing to pay $122,698 in restitution, prosecutors promised to drop a second wire fraud count as well as a count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.  

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher is calling for a special legislative session after the election to focus on crime and public safety.The Pioneer Press reports: No one who would call or lead such a session said they supported Fletcher’s call — although many endorsed the need to improve public safety. Fletcher wrote to elected leaders that, in his 45 years of working in law enforcement, he sees the Twin Cities “at a historic point when it comes to criminal activity on our streets and in our neighborhoods.” Legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz couldn’t agree on a crime package during the regular session, and they still didn’t agree after Fletcher held a news conference. “The Minnesota Senate was proud to pass legislation providing resources to recruit and retain more police officers, get tough on violent criminals, and provide for safer communities,” Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, said. “We were disappointed the House Democrats and Governor Walz didn’t agree to pass these common sense proposals.” Walz issued the following statement: “The Governor echoes the Sheriff’s concerns and shares his sense of urgency to address crime. The Governor has said many times that he is ready to call a special session to pass his $300 million plan that would help every police department in the state hire more officers – but he can’t act unless Senate Republicans are willing to come back to the table.”  

MinnPost has a look at the 1st Congressional District rematch: The national parties and interest groups who fund attack ads have largely stayed out of the race. And the candidates themselves have shied away from name-calling and the dirty tricks that have become more prevalent as Election Day on Nov. 8 nears. National Democrats have stayed out of the race, likely because Jeff Ettinger, a former Hormel CEO, was able to put $1.2 million of his own money in the race, allowing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to concentrate on defending vulnerable Democrats elsewhere, including Rep. Angie Craig. And Brad Finstad, who won a special election against Ettinger in August to fill the remainder of the late Rep. Jim Hagedorn’s term, has done well on his own in campaign fundraising and is favored to win re-election in the largely rural district that stretches 250 miles from Wisconsin to South Dakota. So the national Republican Party has largely stayed out of the race – at least up to now. “Republicans have already figured this race is in their column,” said Michael Minta, professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. 

The Star Tribune notes the 1st District race hasn’t focused on ag issues, even though the district has a lot of farmers in it.