By Max Nesterak | Deputy Editor
Good morning, Reformers.
We have stories about falling international student enrollment, Alex Pretti’s family speaking out and the latest campaign finance data. We’ll also have a story up later today about charges filed against right-wing influencers who donned Muslim garb and tried to expose weaknesses in Minnesota’s election systems.
First, the Peggy Flanagan campaign is surely levitating after seeing this poll from the New York Times showing her beating Republican Michele Tafoya in the U.S. Senate race 54% to 40%. The poll also has Democrat Amy Klobuchar beating Republican Lisa Demuth by 18 percentage points.
It’s a shocking result considering no nonpartisan poll of the race has had Flanagan up more than 4 percentage points since September.
The Times’ Nate Cohn cautions that Minnesota is a challenging state to poll because we don’t have party registration. That makes it harder for pollsters to correct for nonresponse bias — when voters from one party decline to participate in polls.
Cohn points to the infamous Selzer poll in 2024 that showed Kamala Harris beating Donald Trump by 3 percentage points in Iowa, a state Harris lost by 13 points. In that case, however, all other polls showed Trump ahead. In the Minnesota Senate race, all polls are in agreement directionally — that Flanagan will win.
When I’ve asked the Flanagan campaign about the close polling, they say Flanagan has always been underestimated and point to the primary polling that showed a toss-up race with Rep. Angie Craig, who ended up losing by 20 points. (Primary polling isn’t really comparable to a general election, however, because it’s notoriously difficult to get an accurate sample of primary voters.)
We have a voter guide up on our site where you can see our coverage of the races.
To the Reformer:
Gwamaka Mahenya, a junior political science and film and media studies major at St. Olaf College, sits in Boe Chapel on Oct. 27, with flags representing the nationalities of St. Olaf students hanging behind him. (Photo by Maya Betti/Minnesota Reformer)
By Maya Betti
International students, faced with restricted off-campus work options, visa denials and growing uncertainty about post-grad employment, are beginning to turn away from the promise and prestige long associated with an American degree, leaving Minnesota colleges and universities scrambling to balance federal pressures with international appeal.
And the stakes extend beyond losing the rich and varied perspective that international students contribute to intellectual life and culture on college campuses: International students also contribute significant tuition revenue in a time when the University of Minnesota is preparing for budget cuts that could total as much as $260 million, while the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system faces a deficit of about $30 million.
Minnesota State University, Mankato saw its international enrollment fell 18% this fall. At the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, it fell 8%.
By Michelle Griffith
Candidates for Minnesota’s statewide offices, alongside their deep-pocketed outside allies, have poured millions of dollars into what will likely be the most expensive midterm election in state history, according to campaign finance documents released Tuesday.
For the first time in recent memory, Republicans are outspending Democrats, the Star Tribune noted. Republicans have spent $12 million on the governor’s race since mid-August, nearly double the $6.4 million spent by Democrats. Republicans also spent more on the races for secretary of state and state auditor, although Democrats have spent more defending Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is seeking a third term.
The money sloshing into races this year reflects the deregulated campaign finance environment of the past 15 years, since the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings siding against campaign rules on First Amendment grounds, beginning with Citizens United vs. FEC. The money is also a reflection of the fiercely competitive atmosphere and high stakes of a potential Democratic-Farmer-Labor trifecta.
By Madison McVan
Nine months after immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in south Minneapolis, Pretti’s parents are publicly calling on the U.S. Justice Department to release information and evidence related to Pretti’s killing.
“We are here today begging for the Department of Justice to do what is right — to hold the men who killed our son accountable for what they did,” Alex’s mother Susan Pretti said at a press conference in Minneapolis Tuesday.
Customs and Border Protection agents tackled Alex Pretti to the ground, disarmed him, then shot him in the back several times on Jan. 24 during Operation Metro Surge. Six days later, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the FBI was opening a civil rights investigation into the killing. But federal prosecutors have not charged any of the agents involved, and after much back-and-forth over evidence sharing, Minnesota law enforcement leaders said in a court filing last week that the feds are again refusing to hand over key pieces of evidence to local investigators.
IN OTHER NEWS
Courts to decide fate of Trump’s latest push to control voting as Election Day nears | Reformer via States Newsroom
The percentage of people without health insurance is growing | Reformer via Stateline
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