Welcome to Thursday, Minnesota.

Here's the latest news from across the state to start your day. ☕

WEATHER

☀️ Our weather pattern takes a turn for the sunnier as we move through Thursday and Friday.

🌡️ Highs Thursday will make it into the lower 50s across southern Minnesota. Friday will be a few degrees warmer with temperatures in the 50s across most of the state.

Get the latest weather news on Updraft.

Expecting a tie in the Minnesota House, party leaders look to share power

With Tuesday’s election expected to produce a 67-67 tie in the Minnesota House of Representatives, DFL and GOP leaders said Wednesday they are looking now at ways to share power. The Minnesota Constitution forbids the House from having two House speakers at the same time, so it’s possible Republicans and DFLers may divide up which party takes the speakership and which holds lead positions on key committees.

These Minnesota elections saw historic firsts — while others missed the chance

With the 2024 presidential race called, new faces have emerged out of local races, marking several historic firsts in Minnesota. That includes electing a majority of women to Minnesota’s congressional delegation and Rochester’s first openly-gay city council president. But there were also some potential firsts that never came to be.

Minnesotans’ reactions to presidential outcome reflect sharp divide at the ballot box

At the ballot box on Tuesday, and in post-election comments on Wednesday, Minnesota voters were sharply divided on the presidential race. Republican Donald Trump didn’t win Minnesota on his way to a second term in the White House — he trailed Democrat Kamala Harris in the state by about 51 percent to 47 percent. But that outcome — even with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as Harris’ running mate — was an improvement for Trump over 2020 when he finished about 8 points behind Joe Biden.

NEWS ROUNDUP

🏛️ A deadlocked Minnesota House? We’ve been here before. In 1979, Democrats and Republicans faced a deadlocked House after Independent Republicans — what the party was called at the time — picked up 32 seats in the 1978 election. Here's what happened with that tie.

🌲 Voters overwhelmingly back Minnesota lottery spending on environmental projects for another 25 years. It needed 50 percent of all voters to approve the ballot question. More than 77 percent of voters approved the amendment, which has earned remarkably consistent levels of support over the years.

🎒 Minnesota voters back half of school finance levies, reelect most board incumbents. Voters across the state were willing to renew existing levies for building maintenance and upgrades, and for technology. It was a different story, though, when they were asked to pay more for day-to-day operating costs.

🏫 From class president to school board, one Minnesotan reflects on her journey to office. Linsey McMurrin said she was inspired to run for school board when she moderated a school board candidate forum more than 20 years ago as a senior in high school serving as president of the student council.

🧑‍⚖️ Parties deliver closing arguments in Adam Fravel trial. Fravel is on trial for the murder of Madeline Kingsbury. Each side argued their case for more than an hour before the case was handed over to the jury.

👵🏼 Grandma‘s Marathon in Duluth sells out in record time. Registration opened on Oct. 1 and race organizers say registration for the half-marathon and 5K races sold out within days.

☎️ Harris, Biden called Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on election victory. The aide said Harris discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power with Trump ahead of her planned concession speech Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

🗣️ Harris says nation must accept election results while urging supporters to keep fighting. The Democratic vice president said the battle would continue “in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square.”

📝 Donald Trump has sweeping plans for a second administration. Here's what he's proposed. Donald Trump has promised sweeping action in his second administration. But his proposals are more complicated than that sounds and often lack specifics.

🎨 Art Hounds: Threads Dance Project asks what shoes say about us. Art Hounds recommend a dance about shoes, “Alice in Wonderland” by disabled performers and a play about water protectors.

MUST LISTEN

🎧 The latest 2024 election results and updates. From the presidential election to the races for U.S. Senate and the state Legislature, MPR News host Angela Davis and her guests talk about what we know and what the latest results mean for the nation and Minnesota.

🎧 Sen. Klobuchar's reelection semi-soured by Trump presidential win. Klobuchar said it was “not the outcome that we wanted… or that I wanted, and losing some of my colleagues — that’s going to be really hard.”

🎧 As repeat looms, former house speaker, journalist recall 1979 state House split. The Minnesota DFL Party has lost its trifecta — and the state House of Representatives could face a 67-67 gridlock for the first time in 45 years.

🎧 Listen to today's headlines on our Minnesota Today podcast.

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