The closest race of 2020 was Iowa's 2nd Congressional District, which after all the votes were counted had Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks just eight votes ahead of Democrat Rita Hart. Hart argues that 22 ballots were wrongfully not counted, enough to possibly sway the election. Hart is making her case to the House of Representatives, where apparently Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are on board with an effort to declare Hart the winner. The House indisputably has this power, but has used it sparingly: three times in the past 90 years, out of 110 contested elections. [ Read more from Politico]
Local angle: Rep. Dean Phillips is openly against interfering in the IA-02 election, tweeting, "Losing a House election by six votes is painful for Democrats. But overturning it in the House would be even more painful for America. Just because a majority can, does not mean a majority should." Because Democrats have only a slim majority in the House, they can only afford a handful of defections if this comes to a vote.
Good news: Rep. Jim Hagedorn's doctors say "all discernible cancer has been removed from his body following his kidney resection surgery." [Read more from the Star Tribune]
Vaccination update: Last week we reported that it was unclear whether Hagedorn had been vaccinated against COVID-19. Today Hagedorn said he got vaccinated in December. Most of Minnesota's congressional delegation has been vaccinated, with Reps. Tom Emmer and Pete Stauber the only ones who haven't confirmed their vaccination status.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is trying to thread the needle on a controversial ban passed by the state legislature on transgender girls and women participating in girls' or women's sports . Noem, who has expressed support for the concept of a such a bill, issued a "style-and-form veto" in which she made changes to the bill and sent it back to the Legislature, which can accept the changes by majority vote, override them by supermajority, or let the bill die. Noem's changes — which stretch the past usage of "style-and-form" vetoes in South Dakota — include changing the bill so it doesn't apply to college sports. The bill's critics still consider its provisions discriminatory and unacceptable, but it's possible Noem's changes could be enough to prevent NCAA tournaments from pulling out of South Dakota in response. [ Read more from the Associated Press]
2024 watch: Noem, frequently mentioned as a possible 2024 Republican presidential or vice-presidential contender, is facing some backlash from conservative activists for not signing the bill. [Read more from RedState]
Still negative: Gov. Tim Walz, who has been quarantining after being exposed to a staff member with COVID-19, tested negative for the disease again over the weekend.
The Minnesota Legislature has four days left before they leave for a 10-day Easter and Passover break, and in three months of work so far lawmakers have only sent four bills to Gov. Tim Walz . That's not unusual in recent years, as Minnesota lawmakers have passed fewer and fewer laws each year. The most recent 2019-20 session saw 118 bills become law, compared to a record 1,366 in the 1973-74 session. The flip side of this is that the bills that are passed are getting longer — from an average of around 3 pages per bill in the 1970s to 23 pages per bill recently — with lots of what would have been standalone bills bundled into giant must-pass omnibus bills passed at the end of the session. Some time-sensitive measures, though can't wait until crunch time in May. [ Read more from Brian Bakst]
Minnesota stimmy: State and local governments in Minnesota will receive almost $8 billion in federal funding under the recent stimulus bill passed by Congress. Some of this money is earmarked for specific purposes, while other funding can be used for just about anything other than cutting taxes. This doesn't count direct payments to individuals, including an estimated $6.3 billion in stimulus checks to Minnesota residents. Below, see a breakdown of the funding for Minnesota governments in the act. [ Read more from Brian Bakst]
Something completely different: Anyone hungry? You might not be after checking out some of these recipes from a 1914 "Manual of Gelatine Cookery" we found at my grandma's house, including "Digestible Pudding Sauces," "Cod Creams," "Asparagus Salad" and "Popcorn Pudding." [Read more]
Listen: I've been sharing daily music recommendations at the end of each newsletter for the past few weeks, and I'd like to keep doing it — with your help. Shoot me an email with a song or artist you think this newsletter's readers might enjoy , and I might feature it (with credit to you) in a future newsletter. In the meantime, check out Somali-born rapper K'naan's "In The Beginning." [Listen]
