In a letter from Dec. 19, every Democrat from Minnesota’s congressional delegation asked the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to prioritize aid to Somalia.
Citing recent flooding and torrential rains in Somalia, the Democrats asked USAID to “keep aid to Somalia at the forefront of your operations.”
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U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Tina Smith (D-MN) filed legislation this week to forgive student-loan debt for new members of the agriculture industry.
Their bill, the Student Loan Forgiveness for Farmers and Ranchers Act, would cancel significant educational debt for those qualifying as “a beginning farmer or rancher” as well as minority, women, and veteran farmers.
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There is growing worry among Wisconsin dairy farmers about a new climate change plan for investors.
The Venture Dairy Cooperative is sounding the alarm about the Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking to require companies to report information about their “greenhouse gas pollution and be transparent with investors about climate-related risks.”
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Several Minnesota Democrat legislators made statements on the one year anniversary of January 6, 2021, where several protesters entered the U.S. Capitol building during the certification of the 2020 presidential election. All the remarks held a common theme, calling out the event as “insurrection” and an “attack on democracy.”
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Minnesota’s Democrat lawmakers responded to the first Omicron COVID case detected in Minnesota. To date, the case is only the second diagnosed case of the Omicron variant in the nation. The man who tested positive for Omicron was fully vaccinated and had just gotten his booster shot in early November. He contracted the virus while attending a conference in New York City in mid-November, Alpha News reported.
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) announced his reelection campaign on Tuesday. Walz is the seventh gubernatorial candidate to place a bid and the only Democrat to have entered the race so far.
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has given around $250,000 to two Minnesota organizations that will assist lawful permanent residents (LPRs) in becoming U.S. citizens.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith announced the funding in a Friday news release. The International Institute of Minnesota and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid are the two organizations slated to receive the money.
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Minnesota Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) signed on to a bill that would expand the Supreme Court. Smith announced her decision Wednesday on Twitter, where she wrote, “Announcing I’m the first co-sponsor of Senator Markey’s bill to expand the Supreme Court.” Smith said, “It’s time.”
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Minnesota Senator Tina Smith tweeted out Wednesday, criticizing the Supreme Court’s decision regarding a Texas abortion ban. Smith called the decision a “direct attack on Roe.” Smith said that she’s not “blind” to what is being done. She said, “I used to work at Planned Parenthood, not blind to what’s happening here.” Smith called the law unconstitutional saying they are going to “fight it.”
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Congressman Jeff Van Drew issued a statement, calling for President Biden, Vice-President Harris, and Speaker Pelosi to resign following the fall of Afghanistan. Van Drew is a former Democrat who switched parties in 2018. Congressman Van Drew’s official statement reads, “President Biden’s decision to simply hand Afghanistan back to the Taliban after almost twenty years to the day since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, will go down as one of the most shocking and embarrassing failures of leadership in American history.”
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Eleven Senate Democrats on Thursday voted against a modest and commonsense amendment to the Senate Budget Resolution that requires illegal migrants apprehended on the southern border to be tested for COVID-19 before they are transported into the country.
The amendment, introduced by Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), a physician, establishes “a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to protecting migrants and local communities against COVID-19.” Under the provision, migrants will be quarantined and not transported from the border until they tested negative.
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Incumbent Democrat Tina Smith defeated Republican Jason Lewis for a U.S. Senate seat.
The Associated Press called the race for Smith just before 12:30 a.m.
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U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis has closed the gap between him and his opponent, Sen. Tina Smith, to only one point, putting Democrats on edge.
A survey released Wednesday by KSTP shows the margin between former congressman Lewis and Sen. Smith has closed to just one point in their race for the Senate. A MinnPost poll released Tuesday had Lewis trailing by four points.
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Incumbent Democrat Tina Smith will battle Republican Jason Lewis for a U.S. Senate seat in November.
Real Clear Politics polling places Smith in front of Jason Lewis 48-39.9, an 8.7% spread.
Republicans haven’t won a Minnesota U.S. Senate seat since Richard Nixon won the 1972 presidential race against Sen. George McGovern by a landslide.
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Senators Tina Smith (DFL-MN) and Amy Klobuchar (DFL-MN) stated that President Trump shouldn’t pick the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) nominee. Instead, Smith and Klobuchar say that the newly-elected president should, and the Senate should wait to vote until then.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday from cancer complications. The SCOTUS vacancy is now the epicenter of political leaders’ attention.
President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden both hosted campaign events in Minnesota on Friday. Trump held a “Great American Comeback” speaking event with a crowd, while Biden hosted an event addressing a near-empty union training center.
President Trump visited Bemidji Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota. He was greeted on the tarmac by a large crowd as the song, “God Bless the U.S.A.” played.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis will visit a Trump Bus Tour/MAGA meetup in Marshall, Minnesota. Lewis tweeted a link to the event signup page Sunday.
Other speakers include MyPillow founder and Minnesota Trump Campaign Honorary Chairman Mike Lindell, Director of Strategic Communications Marc Lotter, and former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign hired three full-time staffers this week to oversee its campaign operations in Minnesota.
According to ABC News, Ryan Doyle, who managed Keith Ellison’s campaign for attorney general, will serve as Biden’s Minnesota state director.
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Minnesota DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin falsely claimed that Republican Senate candidate Jason Lewis is “denouncing the need for police reform.”
Lewis, a former congressman who’s running against Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), hosted a press conference Monday outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct to express his support for the “good men and women of law enforcement,” and condemn Democratic efforts to abolish the police.
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There’s no “pandemic exception” to the Bill of Rights, Republican Senate candidate Jason Lewis told The Minnesota Sun in a recent interview. That’s the same argument U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr made in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt. “We have three branches of government, and allowing the unitary executive to do this, especially making a pandemic exception to the Bill of Rights, seems to me to be, and to Attorney General Bill Barr, to be overstepping their bounds. Now states, to be perfectly objective about it, states do have plenary police powers, but that assumes the state will make a law in the normal order – introduced in the legislative branch and signed by the governors. That’s not what’s happening here,” Lewis told The Minnesota Sun. Lewis said he’s been campaigning all over the state for the past two weeks because his team decided “enough was enough.” Going through “a second Great Depression” won’t do “anything to stop a virus,” he said. “The lockdown was meant to give hospital capacity a head start – we’ve accomplished that by anybody’s standard. Any official who purports to represent the people of Minnesota cannot deny them their God-given right to earn…
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Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith have made a mockery of the #MeToo Movement by remaining silent in the face of sexual assault accusations against former Vice President Joe Biden, Senate candidate Jason Lewis said.
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Republican Jason Lewis, a former conservative radio host turned congressman, said his campaign for the U.S. Senate will be about the “forgotten man and woman in Minnesota.” His opponent, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), on the other hand, has become “the poster child for how the DFL has left behind the working man and woman of Minnesota.” “This is not Hubert Humphrey’s party anymore. This is the party of Jacob Frey, Ilhan Omar, and Tina Smith. And that is a total, radical departure from at least the Farmer-Labor part of the DFL. She sort of represents the elite one percent of Democrat orthodoxy,” Lewis told The Minnesota Sun in a recent interview. According to Lewis, Smith can “spit all over” Minnesota’s working class so long as she says “the right things on a couple of hot button issues.” “And that’s where the Democratic Party is, which is why they’re losing, losing the forgotten man and woman of Greater Minnesota in droves,” Lewis said. Before entering politics, Smith worked as an executive for the abortion giant Planned Parenthood while her husband, Archie, was a venture capitalist. According to financial disclosure forms from 2018, the two have a net worth of at…
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U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis announced last week that he will be embarking on a “Reopen Minnesota for Business” RV tour in protest of the economic shutdown imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Lewis’ campaign said the tour began Friday with select stops in the Metro area. The former congressman said he plans to meet with small business owners impacted by the coronavirus shutdown throughout the course of the tour.
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Republican Senate candidate Jason Lewis placed the blame for the coronavirus pandemic squarely on China’s shoulders in a new commercial released Monday.
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Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) accused President Donald Trump and his administration of spreading “misinformation” about the coronavirus in a recent interview.
The Minnesota senator said the Trump administration “didn’t move quickly on developing” a test for the virus.
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Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday in the race for the Democratic nomination.
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Republicans are calling on Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) to condemn Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) threats against Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
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The Minnesota DFL Party said Monday that Republican Senate candidate Jason Lewis would “push an uncompromising partisan agenda” if he were sent back to Washington.
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Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) said in an op-ed this week that the president “cannot claim to be exonerated” even if he is acquitted by the Senate, which is expected.
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Minnesota voters began casting their votes early Friday in the state’s first presidential primary since 1992.
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The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) began targeting Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) and other swing-state Democrats Monday with a new billboard campaign. “Ask Tina Smith about the 430,478 Minnesota jobs at risk under the Green New Deal,” the NRSC’s new Minnesota billboard states. Smith has expressed support for the Green New Deal, but voted “present” along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) when the measure was put up for a vote in the Senate. Great new billboard here in MN by @NRSC. It’s time @TinaSmithMN answer for why she wants to crush jobs in Minnesota. #mnsen pic.twitter.com/ETvO9Da6p3 — Kevin Poindexter (@Kdpoindexter) April 22, 2019 State Sen. Karin Housley (R-St. Mary’s Point), Smith’s 2018 opponent, tweeted a picture of the billboard Monday along with the contact information for Smith’s office. “Yep, you should ask Sen. Tina Smith. I saved you the search,” Housley said. Smith defeated Housley in the 2018 special election to finish the remainder of former Sen. Al Franken’s term, but she will be up for reelection again in 2020. Yep, you should ask @SenTinaSmith. I saved you the search: (202) 224-5641 or https://t.co/TE6oaflnIq #mnsen pic.twitter.com/mbEeMywZ3U — Karin Housley (@KarinHousley) April 22, 2019 It’s been rumored that Housley may run…
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Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election was officially released to the public Thursday. Reactions from Minnesota’s congressional delegation were predictably divided. Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) said she was “deeply distributed” as she reviewed the report, claiming it has “proved Russian interference in the 2016 election.” “Second, there is ample evidence of attempts by the president to obstruct the investigation and the special counsel left it to Congress to decide whether that amounts to a crime. And the report demonstrates that the lies Trump associated told materially affected the course of the investigation,” Smith wrote in a statement posted to Facebook. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) agreed and pointed out that the report states that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election “in a sweeping and systematic fashion.” “So despite the endless doubts cast by the president, this happened. Case made for my bill for backup paper ballots and post-election audits,” Klobuchar wrote on Twitter. First Page of Mueller report says that Russian government interfered in 2016 presidential election “in sweeping and systematic fashion.” So despite the endless doubts cast by the President, this happened. Case made for my bill for backup…
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Innumerable politicians and commentators came to Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN-05) defense Saturday morning after President Donald Trump tweeted out a video of her controversial remarks at a recent CAIR fundraiser. As The Minnesota Sun reported, Omar delivered the keynote address at CAIR’s March fundraiser in Los Angeles, and faced criticism last week after video from the event showed her describing the 9/11 terror attacks as “some people did something.” On Friday, Trump tweeted a video of Omar’s remarks that was spliced together with footage from the attacks, captioning his tweet with “we will never forget.” WE WILL NEVER FORGET! pic.twitter.com/VxrGFRFeJM — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019 By Saturday morning, Omar was trending on Twitter along with the hashtag “IStandWithIlhanOmar.” “The video that Donald Trump posted is dangerous, reckless, and I would say criminal,” DFL Chairman Ken Martin said. “For a president to target Ilhan, a member of Congress, is abhorrent to the values of our democracy. No member of congress should have to fear for their safety and his actions cross the line.” The video that @realdonaldtrump posted is dangerous, reckless & I would say criminal. For a President to target @Ilhan, a member of congress, is abhorrent…
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Doug Wardlow, the Minnesota Republican Party’s 2018 nominee for attorney general, is reportedly considering a run against Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) in 2020. The National Journal claims a “Republican source with knowledge” said Wardlow is being encouraged to run for the seat by party officials and activists. Wardlow lost his 2018 race against Attorney General Keith Ellison, but only by four points—a closer margin than any other Republican running for statewide office. Ellison’s campaign, however, was nearly derailed by domestic-abuse allegations leveled against the Democrat. The anonymous source also pointed out that Wardlow outperformed President Donald Trump’s numbers in the Twin Cities area and Rochester, and that he managed to raise more than $1 million during his campaign. Smith, who was appointed by former Gov. Mark Dayton to fill in for Al Franken, defeated State Sen. Karin Housley (R-St. Mary’s Point) with 53 percent of the vote, compared to Housley’s 42 percent. But Smith will be up again for reelection in 2020, since the 2018 race was a special election called for the remaining two years of Franken’s six-year term. A look at Wardlow’s Twitter feed from the last several weeks shows that he’s had his eye on Smith. In…
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Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), a former Planned Parenthood executive, is proudly defending her vote against a bill that would protect babies who survive botched abortions. “Colleagues, that’s what this bill does. It would give the politicians in this room the power to make medical decisions for women and their families. This bill intimidates providers and forces physicians to provide inappropriate medical treatment, even when it’s not in the best interest of the patient or her family,” Smith said during a Senate floor debate Monday. Lawmakers shouldn't dictate what doctors can or cannot do to deliver the best medical care for women. We need to continue to trust women & their doctors. I took to the Senate floor today to talk about this, & I will continue to make my voice heard for women in MN and our nation. pic.twitter.com/9bwJYRBoyT — Senator Tina Smith (@SenTinaSmith) February 25, 2019 She went on to argue that the bill, if passed, would “put doctors in an untenable position” of being forced to decide between following “the law” or their “code of professional ethics.” “Colleagues, let’s get out of the business of dictating medical care for women. Let’s continue to trust women and their doctors,”…
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota–Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) officially declared her candidacy for President of the United States Sunday during a snowy rally on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Several of her Minnesotan colleagues spoke before her, including Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D-MN) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN). Klobuchar’s Senate counterpart, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), touted Klobuchar’s record of supporting Planned Parenthood, and criticized Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh for his alleged failure to adequately address Klobuchar’s line of questioning during his confirmation process. Prince, naturally, was invoked several times throughout the event and one of his former collaborators, DJ Dudley D, emceed the occasion. https://twitter.com/AGockowski/status/1094671348801175552 “Hey, if Prince could do that halftime show in all that rain, I can do this in this snow,” Klobuchar joked. Despite the blizzard-like conditions, Klobuchar managed to attract a massive crowd that was estimated at around 9,000 people. She began her address by thanking her “amazing and incredible team and staff for putting this together.” Leading up to her announcement, Buzzfeed News and Huffington Post released separate reports detailing Klobuchar’s abusive behavior toward her staff, which included claims that she “yelled, threw papers, and sometimes even hurled objects.” Klobuchar’s speech “We are gathered…
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Every member of Congress gets one guest ticket for the annual State of the Union address, and it’s often used to score quick political points. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05), for instance, invited Linda Clark, an immigrant from Liberia who is at risk of deportation because of President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) program. “Clark came to the United States in 2000, after fleeing Civil War in her home country of Liberia,” a press release from Omar’s office explains. “As a result of Trump’s decision, thousands of Liberian Americans could be removed from the U.S. at the end of March if DED is not renewed. Minnesota is home to the largest community of Liberian Americans of any state in the nation.” Omar said that Clark is “exactly the type of Americans success story we should celebrate,” calling her “someone who came to this country seeking a better life, played by the rules, and built a life for herself.” “I am pleased to have her join me at the State of the Union and urge the Trump Administration to renew DED status for Liberian Americans,” Omar said. “The president himself has expressed open hatred towards people fleeing…
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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) was the only elected official to speak at this year’s Women’s March Minnesota, and was invited to speak despite the organization’s recent condemnation of “those who have engaged in anti-Semitic, anti-woman, and anti-LGBTQ hate speech.” The national Women’s March has been roiled by controversies surrounding anti-Semitic comments made by its leaders, one of whom attended an event hosted by Louis Farrakhan as recently as last year. In response, Women’s March Minnesota issued a January 10 press release “reevaluating its ties to Women’s March, Inc.” “Women’s March Minnesota does not and will not tolerate the language or practice of hate,” the group said. “We will not tolerate anti-Semitism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia and we condemn these expressions of hatred in all forms.” The group went on to claim that it was “charting a new course into what 2019 looks like for Women’s March Minnesota.” But during its annual march Saturday, the only elected official to address attendees was Omar, who has been dealing with charges of anti-Semitism of her own, as The Minnesota Sun reported. “We fight because we recognize that women’s rights are civil rights. This June will mark a century since the 19th Amendment was…
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It was a wild week in Washington, which gave Minnesota’s politicians ample opportunity to attack President Donald Trump. In a Friday appearance on The Dan Obeidallah Show, Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) said Trump’s border wall “is deeply rooted in xenophobia.” “If Trump shuts down the government: 420,000 Americans will be forced to work without pay over the holidays. 380,000 will be furloughed. 30 million small businesses will lose access to loans,” she later wrote on Twitter. “All of this, over a wall that Americans don’t want. A wast of billions of dollars.” If Trump shuts down the government: 420,000 Americans will be forced to work without pay over the holidays. 380,000 will be furloughed. 30 million small businesses will lose access to loans. All of this, over a wall that Americans don’t want. A waste of billions of dollars. — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) December 21, 2018 “Hey GOP, your incompetency is mind numbing, three shutdowns in one year. For the sake of the American people, get it together or get out of the way,” Omar wrote on Saturday. Hey @GOP, your incompetency is mind numbing, three #shutdowns in one year. For the sake of the American people, get it together…
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by Natalia Castro Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith are running to maintain their seats this November. While both are leading in the polls, their race has not been without controversy. In Americans for Limited Government’s latest issue advocacy ad, they highlight the hypocrisy surrounding Klobuchar and Smith’s alignment with controversial political figures Al Franken and Keith Ellison. By refusing to call out violence against women in their own party, even within their own state, Klobuchar and Smith have proved they are more invested in party politics than doing what is right. Klobuchar became a national name during the nomination process for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh was subject to unsubstantiated sexual misconduct claims that dragged out his nomination process for weeks. Klobuchar became one of his fiercest critics and an adversary during the hearing process. Smith also called upon constituents to “rise up” and “use their voice” against Kavanaugh on the steps of the Supreme Court. Smith and Klobuchar advocated against Kavanaugh, despite an FBI investigation which was unable to verify his alleged victim’s story and bodies of evidence supporting Kavanaugh’s denial of events. Meanwhile, in these Senators’ own state of Minnesota, two high profile political…
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The latest poll out of Suffolk University shows that Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson (pictured, left) trails his opponent Rep. Tim Walz (pictured, right) by only five points in the race for Minnesota’ governorship. The poll, conducted between August 17 and August 20, surveyed 500 Minnesotans on their opinions of candidates running in the upcoming gubernatorial and senatorial races, all of which are guaranteed to be high-stakes races for the typically blue state. Recurring physical and mental health issues have sidelined Gov. Mark Dayton, who will not seek reelection, leaving the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party endorsement open for Rep. Tim Walz, who is leading Johnson by a small margin of five points, according to Suffolk. In the governor’s race, Minnesota voters ranked healthcare as the most important issue facing the state, with gun control measures placing near the bottom at just 4.8 percent. The economy and taxes both tied for second at 16 percent. Among those polled, 47 percent answered that they are “extremely interested” in the race,” while another 32 percent responded that they are “very interested.” 90 percent of respondents said they will “almost certainly” vote in the upcoming midterm elections. Looking at the two Senate races in Minnesota,…
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