By Alyssa Chen | Reporter
Good morning, Reformers.
Michelle Griffith is at an event rolling out a renewed effort — given new life by the DFL trifecta — to pass the Equal Rights Amendment and send it to the voters in 2028 for inclusion in the Minnesota Constitution. She’ll have a report a bit later.
Democrat Scott Colom has won Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race in a massive upset against Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
He’ll be the state’s first Black U.S. senator since the Reconstruction era, and the first Democratic senator from the state in over 40 years, expanding the Democratic majority in the Senate to 55. President Trump won Mississippi in 2024 by 23 points.
In Alaska, the last Senate race to be called, Democrat Mary Peltola leads Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan by 3,975 votes. Ballots are still being counted.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has resigned from the AI chipmaking company after revelations of two extramarital affairs, one with a Chinese businesswoman found to be passing information to the Chinese government, according to American surveillance, and one with a senior executive at Nvidia.
Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and is a major leader in the AI boom. Shares of Nvidia are down around 20% from when the New York Times first reported on Huang’s affair with the Chinese businesswoman, and the American intelligence findings on her, in late October.
Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, speaks alongside other Trump administration officials during a press conference on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 in St. Cloud, Minn. CMS recently said it’s permanently denying over $112 million of Medicaid funding to Minnesota. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
By Alyssa Chen
You may have periodically seen stories about the Trump administration threatening to cut, threatening to freeze, blocking, freezing, etc. Medicaid funds from Minnesota over the past year.
In the latest installment of that saga, the administration said recently that it’s permanently denying over $112 million in Medicaid money to Minnesota, the first time the administration has permanently denied payments.
I wrote an explainer, with a chart and a timeline, to recap the yearlong fight and what we know about the administration’s most recent action.
By Michelle Griffith
Rep. Dan Wolgamott, DFL-St. Cloud, was arrested just after 9 p.m. by St. Cloud police on three DWI-related charges, including criminal vehicular operation, bodily harm under the influence of alcohol; third-degree driving while impaired; and operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.,
The circumstances surrounding Wolgamott’s arrest are unclear, but a charge for bodily harm criminal vehicular operation indicates police judged that someone was injured, according to state statute.
A number of Minnesota lawmakers have been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in recent years. Other current lawmakers arrested include DFL Rep. Brion Curran, DFL-White Bear Lake; DFL Sen. Tou Xiong, DFL-Maplewood; and Sen. John Jasinski, R-Fairbault. Wolgamott did not seek re-election in 2026.
IN OTHER NEWS
Young, diverse voters showed up for midterms as older, Trump voters stayed home | Reformer via Stateline
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