By Michelle Griffith | Title
Good morning, Reformers.
Gov. Tim Walz this morning attended a ceremony dedicating Highway 610 as the Hortman Memorial Highway, in honor of the late House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.
Governor-elect Amy Klobuchar held her first press conference yesterday, and it was immediately apparent that Klobuchar intends to govern differently from Walz.
Klobuchar walked into the press conference alongside her advisors and Lt. Gov.-elect Ben Schierer. I thought Schierer was going to join Klobuchar at the podium, but he sat down in a chair alongside us media. To me, the message was that Schierer was there to support, but this is Klobuchar’s time. At every press conference in her campaign, Klobuchar was alongside advocates, law enforcement and other supporters. This time it was just Klobuchar at the podium, carrying a binder and a folder.
She rehashed the promises she made while campaigning – she’s going to start an audit on day one to identify fraudulent activity and areas of wasteful spending. She wants to transform government to make it more efficient. (You apply for a permit, for example, and if the government doesn’t grant it within a certain deadline you get your money back.) She said she will not raise taxes and try to make life more affordable by expanding childcare and building more homes.
Other things I noticed: After attending numerous Walz press conferences, I can say that it’s difficult to quote him. If you hear him enough and hear him in person, you get the gist. But he doesn’t directly answer questions much, and he speaks quickly and elliptically, often in word salads. You can’t really understand what he’s talking about if you just read the text of his comments, which were always off-the-cuff. To his credit, he has made himself available over the years — if not for one-on-one interviews with the Reformer — in plenty of these group settings.
Klobuchar is different. She’s detail-oriented, and she gives long explanations. Whether this is filibustering or she wants everyone to know the details is unclear, but Minnesota media is going to need to find a way to get their questions in. We only had time for about five questions yesterday, and I think Klobuchar took up a lot of time giving long-winded answers.
You also immediately get the sense that Klobuchar is driving the show. As the Star Tribune reported this fall, Walz often relied on his advisors and took a 30,000-foot approach to governing. House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Sen. Kari Dziedzic convinced Walz to sign the most progressive agenda in generations during last DFL trifecta in the 2023-2024 session.
I’m not sure you’d have the same outcome with Klobuchar. She knows what she wants, and progressive legislators may have a harder time dragging her along. We also know Klobuchar isn’t afraid to shut people down.
As she has already promised in her victory speech: “Spoiler alert: You may not like every single thing I do.”
Read my story about her first day as governor-elect.
Onto today’s Reformer.
Governor-elect Amy Klobuchar delivers a victory speech at the DFL watch party Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026 in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
By Max Nesterak
Peggy Flanagan, in her first news conference since being elected to the U.S. Senate, hailed the new voices headed to Congress after Democrats won landslide victories across the country in Tuesday’s midterms.
Voters elected at least 10 new Democratic senators, already the largest incoming class of elected first-time Democratic Senators in 40 years, with results from Alaska and Mississippi still outstanding. Many made history: Flanagan is the first Native American woman elected to the Senate, Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan the first Muslim and Chris Pappas of New Hampshire the first out gay man.
All those new voices need a new leader, Flanagan said, but she did not say who she thinks should replace leader Chuck Schumer.
By Ashley Murray and Shauneen Miranda
As the monumental midterm victories set in, Democrats began to talk strategy Wednesday on how to deliver what voters want: lower prices, attainable health care and an end to a stagnant and expensive conflict in the Middle East.
Starting in January, the party will control both chambers of Congress, giving them the upper hand over much of President Donald Trump’s agenda, including his judicial nominees, and the power to investigate the first two years of Trump’s second term, including his business ventures, war decisions and mass deportation campaign.
Shawn Fain, leader of the United Auto Workers union, said “it’s not a massive win for anybody until these people go to work and deliver results.”
“I believe this election is a mandate for change, but it is up to the Democratic Party now to deliver. And if they don’t deliver, we’ll be the first ones to call them out on it,” Fain said.
By Jennifer Shutt
Democratic leaders in Congress have just a couple months to decide how they want to balance investigations into Trump and his administration with securing his signature on major bills to address the cost of living, a top concern for voters.
Trump said during an impromptu press conference Wednesday in the construction zone for his White House ballroom that he will “get along, probably, with the Democrats unless they want to be destructive. But I have the power of the veto.”
Trump said he wasn’t concerned about Democrats potentially trying to impeach him for a third time.
“I think it would destroy the Democrat Party if they did that,” he said.
IN OTHER NEWS
OH BY THE WAY
My colleague Max Nesterak counted the number of new legislators elected Tuesday, at least according to unofficial election results — 48, or nearly a fifth of the 201 incoming.
The closest race, according to the unofficial results, include Senate District 4 — which encompasses Moorhead and Detroit Lakes — where GOP candidate Austin Peterson is ahead by four votes over DFL Sen. Rob Kupec.
Other close races include House District 32A — which encompasses Blaine and Columbus. GOP Rep. Nolan West is up by 22 votes over DFL candidate Amanda Matchett.
In Senate District 33 — which includes Stillwater and Forest Lake — GOP Sen. Karin Housley is up by 42 votes over DFL candidate Nat Smith.
Once the legislative election results are official, some races could head into automatic, tax-payer funded recounts if they are within 0.5% margin. Candidates can also request a recount at their own expense if they don’t automatically qualify.
We will see what races will be going to a recount in the coming days. In the meantime, we at the Reformer are going to get to know the 48 newbie legislators. Are there any that have a particularly interesting story? Let us know!
Have a great Thursday.
Correspond: [email protected]
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