By J. Patrick Coolican | Editor-in-chief
Good morning, Reformers,
President Donald Trump did Minnesota Democrats a huge favor Thursday by injecting himself into a midterm campaign they wanna make all about him. Whereas Minnesota Republicans need the campaign to be about something other than Trump, i.e., the fleecing of our safety net programs and a couple suburban shootings in the past week, apparently involving Somali youth.
Max Nesterak wrote up Trump’s social media post, which Max likened to the inciting tone that Trump used on Jan. 6, 2021:
“The once Great State of Minnesota is being taken over by Somali Immigrants. There is Violence, Murder, and Mayhem all over the State. The people of Minnesota must fight back.”
(Minnesota’s crime rate continued falling in 2025 and is below the national average.)
Trump also slandered Gov. Tim Walz as a “thief.” Say what you want about Walz, but his sole assets, which he’s disclosed by releasing his tax returns, are his public employee pensions, while Trump’s wealth has ballooned since he became president, thanks to his various scams.
ISAIAH announced Minnesota clergy will speak out about Trump’s incitement at 11.
Hope it goes better than this: Lou Raguse reports that Asad Aliweyd, who led a Wednesday press conference about Somali youth gang violence, is currently paying back $1.1 million to Minnesota’s Department of Education that was deemed in civil court to be fraudulently obtained in the pandemic meal fraud scheme.
Campaigns aren’t about nuance, but this take from Hamse Warfa, formerly of the U.S. State Department, is the right one, IMO:
“Minnesota now faces a choice. We can minimize genuine problems because confronting them is uncomfortable. We can collectively condemn an entire community because anger makes that convenient. Or we can choose the more difficult path: shared responsibility for accountability and belonging at the same time.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar has a press conference today in White Bear Lake at 12:30.
Democrat Matt Little and Republican state Sen. Eric Pratt, facing off in the 2nd Congressional District, have a debate on MPR’s Politics Friday at noon.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan pledges her support of a labor-led economic agenda that includes raising the minimum wage and lowering healthcare costs at a campaign event at the Minnesota AFL-CIO headquarters in St. Paul on Oct. 8, 2026. (Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer)
By Max Nesterak
The 12 “Commitments to working Minnesotans” span a broad swath of populist economic proposals, including raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $17 an hour, eliminating the income cap on Social Security contributions that winds up lowering taxes on the wealthy, creating a public option for health insurance, banning elected officials from trading individual stocks and making it easier to unionize.
At a campaign stop at the headquarters of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, the federation of unions representing more than 300,000 workers, the lieutenant governor said unions built the middle class and are essential to a strong, fair economy.
While union membership has suffered a decadeslong decline, unions continue to be a potent political force with widespread popularity. Americans’ approval of labor unions is the highest it’s been in six decades, with 71% in favor, according to Gallup.
By Tim Henderson
A perfect storm of harsh immigration enforcement, aging journeymen and a building boom for data centers is wreaking havoc on the nation’s supply of skilled trade workers.
Automakers and construction contractors say they need more access to workers through accelerated training, steady immigration and a cultural shift to encourage young people to do the hard, dirty work of skilled trades. They’re looking for plumbers, electricians, carpenters, machinists and technicians — specializations increasingly in short supply.
Worker shortages are the top reason for construction project delays, a September survey by the Association of General Contractors of America found. Applicants are there, but half of the contractors who were surveyed said too many job candidates are unqualified and need more training.
IN OTHER NEWS
Cornell case highlights the patchwork of state laws governing intoxication, sexual consent | Reformer via Stateline
Urban, rural hospitals closing at similar rates, study finds | Reformer via Stateline
Lawyer Navi Pillay Is Awarded Nobel Peace Prize | New York Times gift link
OH BY THE WAY
Where my classicists at? Read this John Ganz takedown of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech in Greece Thursday in which he tried to cram Trumpism into the ancient Greek tradition.
I like this paragraph in particular, combining Ganz’s erudition with his love of a good verbal jab:
“Plato’s Republic contains a further irony — another one of those subtle Greek virtues that the Romanate Marcus Rubius evidently lacks. The timocracy degenerates into oligarchy, the rule of wealth. As Plato puts it, the love of honor gives way to the love of money, until men come to ‘commend and admire the rich man and put him in office.’ What could be a more fitting description of the political situation in which Rubio now finds himself: delivering grandiloquent speeches about honor, courage, and virtue in the service of Donald Trump, the real estate hustler whose name has become synonymous with gaudy wealth.”
I’m listening to a lot of Radiohead this week and though 30 years old this song seems fitting in these times.
Solo parenting this weekend, so wish me luck!
Have a great weekend. JPC
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