Weekend Reformer: Recounts requested in Minnesota legislative races

Happy Saturday, Reformers.

Two candidates who narrowly lost their legislative races requested recounts, the Minnesota Secretary of State announced Friday, and they will be publicly funded.

DFL candidate Nat Smith requested a recount for the race in Senate District 33, which includes Stillwater and Forest Lake. GOP Sen. Karin Housley is ahead of Smith by 42 votes. The recount for this race will occur on Tuesday.

DFL candidate Amanda Matchett requested a recount for the race in House District 32A — which encompasses Blaine and Columbus. GOP Rep. Nolan West is up by 22 votes over Matchett, and this recount is scheduled for Nov. 23.

The closest legislative race is up in Senate District 4  — which encompasses Moorhead and Detroit Lakes — where GOP candidate Austin Peterson is ahead by four votes over DFL Sen. Rob Kupec. 

Because this district spans across two counties, a recount can’t begin until the State Canvassing Board certifies the election results. The same is true for the race in Congressional District 1, where math teacher Jake Johnson has declared victory over Republican U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad. 

Finstad has said he will request a recount. 

And here is a message from our editor, J. Patrick Coolican: 

“Due to a production error that our editor Patrick Coolican admits was his fault, some of you Weekend subscribers have occasionally been receiving the Daily the past couple weeks. He’s very sorry for clogging your inboxes with unwanted email.”

Onto a recap of this week.

U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat and member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, asked the Trump administration to preserve all records related to the federal government’s recent purchase of the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Madison McVan reported.

The first detainees arrived at the Appleton Detention Facility this week, Madison also wrote. The Appleton detention center is the first detention center in Minnesota. Until now, immigrant detainees have been held in local jails or shipped to out-of-state detention centers.

Agents from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Financial Crime and Fraud Unit were at Fridley Public Schools Friday as part of an ongoing investigation, the details of which were not immediately clear, Melissa Whitler reported.

Dozens of people are seeking justice through the civil court system for ICE agents’ abuses that occurred during Operation Metro Surge, Madison reported.

Attorneys for five journalists facing felony charges over an anti-ICE protest inside a St. Paul church urged a federal magistrate judge to reject the “vindictive” prosecution of the press by the Trump administration and dismiss the charges, Max Nesterak reported.

Alyssa Chen created a handy timeline of the repeated threats from the Trump administration to freeze or claw back Medicaid money earmarked to Minnesota. Earlier this week, the federal government said it’s permanently denying over $112 million of Medicaid money to Minnesota, which the state will now be on the hook for paying unless the denials are reversed.

Outgoing DFL Rep. Dan Wolgamott was arrested in St. Cloud on suspicion of driving while impaired, his second arrest in three years, I wrote. 

Democratic lawmakers gathered with advocates for an Equal Rights Amendment at the Minnesota Capitol to launch their latest campaign to add to the state Constitution sweeping protections that prohibit discrimination based on race, national origin, disability, gender identity, sex and pregnancy — including one’s decision to become pregnant or terminate a pregnancy, I reported.

Our Emmer correspondent, Chad Maschke, documented Rep. Tom Emmer’s post-election crashout. The House Republican whip appeared in several interviews after Republicans resoundingly lost the midterms, and went on racist rants against Somalis in Minnesota and incorrectly stated Minnesota’s elections aren’t secure.

DFL activist Conrad Zbikowski argued that Democrats’ election win means the Trump administration should be brought to justice.

Former DHS deputy commissioner Chuck Johnson writes about the limitations of policymaking and how they become visible when officials grapple with what to do about homeless encampments.

Correspond: [email protected]