Weekend Reformer: Tafoya and Flanagan can’t shake ties to unpopular men

Good morning, Reformers. 

Republican Michele Tafoya and Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota’s U.S. Senate candidates, sparred on Friday over foreign policy, immigration, violent crime, fraud and healthcare at their only scheduled debate, hosted by MPR News. 

Each tried to shake their ties with unpopular men: for Tafoya, that’s President Donald Trump, who endorsed her this week. (She shrugged off the endorsement.) For Flanagan, that’s Gov. Tim Walz, who dropped his bid for a third term earlier this year amid a widening crisis of fraud in social service programs that has dogged Flanagan’s campaign. 

Max Nesterak reports on the debate here. 

Also: The FBI is investigating a series of threatening letters with “suspicious” unidentified white powders that were mailed to the offices of state election officials and lawmakers across the country ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. 

Democratic U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith along with U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison and Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon reported Friday that their offices were among those targeted. 

“Threats against election workers are unacceptable and should not be tolerated,” Simon said in a statement. “Our office will not be deterred and will continue to support the thousands of election officials across the state as they administer elections to their communities.” 

Maya Betti reports here.

Through court records, Madi McVan explored the vast surveillance dragnet the federal government used during Operation Metro Surge to track and infiltrate anti-ICE organizations. Among the examples: an undercover officer attended anti-ICE trainings under the Signal username “peanutbutterjelly” and federal agents sent a summons to REI, the outdoor brand, seeking transaction information for everyone who had purchased a particular beanie in the Twin Cities area. 

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lisa Demuth rarely talks about her Pentecostal faith publicly, but Michelle Griffith reviewed Demuth’s recorded talks at religious conferences where she said she has frequently turned to God and her well-worn Bible to guide her legislative decisions. 

Demuth said twice recently she voted to cap the price of insulin for Minnesotans in her bid for governor as a way to burnish her resume working on affordability. But, as Michelle reported, she voted against efforts to cap insulin prices twice. 

Maya wrote about Democrat Jake Johnson’s efforts to upset Rep. Brad Finstad in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District. Trump won the district by nearly 12 percentage points in 2024, but Johnson is hoping to capitalize on affordability concerns to win over voters. 

Melissa Whitler wrote an explainer of the school plans from Minnesota’s gubernatorial candidates Demuth and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who both put academic achievement at the top of their education agenda. Neither plan addresses funding challenges. 

In swift reversal, Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams cancelled the district’s plan to close schools, Melissa reported. Sayles-Adams said the decision to not close schools, made in response to community concerns, means the district will continue to spread its limited resources across under-capacity schools in ways that do not provide equitable access to opportunities for all students. 

Max reported that Minneapolis will not require human drivers in autonomous robotaxis after the City Council failed to override a mayoral veto. 

Amid two measles outbreaks in rural Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Health is urging people to get vaccinated for measles if they haven’t already, I reported. I included two charts of vaccination rates among Minnesota kindergartners, which are getting lower year after year.

Kayseh Magan, a Somali-American and former investigator in the Medicaid fraud division of the attorney general’s office, wrote that Somali Minnesotans have unfairly scapegoated for the actions of a very few. 

Megan Bull Bear, a Lakota small business owner in Mankato, wrote that input prices for her business are going up, and urged leaders to keep small businesses in mind when they make decisions about trade, supply chains and small business support. 

Conrad Zbikowski, a DFL activist and an advocate for mental health destigmatization, wrote about his experience in inpatient psychiatric units in order to demystify the experience.  

A group of ethics lawyers wrote to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel calling for an investigation into whether the recent raid on U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home violated the Hatch Act, which prevents the use of official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election. The Reformer published an excerpt of the letter.

I’ll be at Commons Park in downtown Minneapolis this afternoon to cover the fourth “No Kings” rally of Trump’s second term along with Maya and photographer Nicole Neri. 

Today’s rally is focused on encouraging early voting in the midterm elections. 

The last No Kings day in March closely followed Operation Metro Surge and drew tens of thousands of people to St. Paul.

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