Minnesota Reformer

Holy guacamole, this @mwhitler.bsky.social @minnesotareformer.com bombshell. Explosion #1: In 1/26, Fridley borrowed $11.5M to have cash to pay its bills. To pay that back & have $ for this year, 9/26 it borrowed $23.4M. It's likely to need to borrow again next fall. 1/

The Minnesota Department of Education is hiring an outside auditor to examine Fridley Public Schools over significant concerns about financial management and the potential for the district “continue into a debt spiral,” of issuing new debt to pay off old debt.

House Speaker Lisa Demuth declined to say Monday whether she would pardon convicted murderer Derek Chauvin if she’s elected governor.

174 former federal and state judges sent a letter Monday requesting the dismissal of a misconduct complaint filed last month by the U.S. Department of Justice against nearly every federal judge in Minnesota.

The lieutenant governor has helped reshape Minnesota’s relationship with tribal nations. Now she hopes to bring that approach to Washington. minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/26/w...

2/ If you aren't already, I hope you'll consider following & supporting the excellent work by today's guests including ✅ @upnorthnewswi.bsky.social ✅ @minnesotareformer.com ✅ The Alt Media by @samyoungman.bsky.social & @adamparkhomenko.bsky.social www.thealtmedia.com

Both Democratic and Republican candidates during the heated midterm election cycle have had to navigate deep voter resentment of the massive server farm developments that power artificial intelligence.

Commentary: When you vote, you are going to court, the most local, democratic court. Your right to vote that day is being protected by your neighbors.

Rising costs of healthcare, gas and groceries during Trump’s second term have put Republicans on defense, not only in Washington, but in statehouse and governor's races across the country.

What Peggy Flanagan’s Senate victory would mean for Indian Country minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/26/w...

Cost-cutting measures at the U.S. Postal Service resulted in soaring numbers of rejected ballots in the primary, especially in rural counties.

After a sometimes-bitter primary season, shared policy goals on affordability for Americans and accountability for the Trump administration have bonded the party’s left wing and its establishment factions for now.

The Trump administration claims it has removed nearly a million people from the country through July of this year. That figure mostly comes from people turned away at the border, and also includes voluntary departures. Few have criminal convictions.

Commentary: Whether it’s Doug Chapin in the 6th District or Republicans in the cities, people should run for office

Cost of employer-sponsored health insurance plans rises again, nonpartisan survey finds.

Takeaways from the final gubernatorial debate between Demuth, Klobuchar.

Voters will still have to decide if Klobuchar is a demanding boss who gets the best out of people, or a someone who would struggle to oversee 50,000 state employees if elected Minnesota governor.

Commentary: Minnesota must act on what fosters know about homelessness. Thanks to Osahon Akpata-Tanious, e.d. of Foster Advocates, who writes about a new report on fosters and homelessness. minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/21/m...

The congressional race between Matt Little and state Sen. Eric Pratt is a barometer of the swift changes in American politics in the past two years. If elected, Little would represent a leftward shift for the 2nd Congressional District, which voted red before Rep. Angie Craig won in 2018.

Commentary: This investigation began with Trump's public contempt for Omar and for Somali people, was built on a claim two earlier reviews found baseless, aiming to attempt to remove a sitting member of Congress from the country. There is no version of that which avoids a constitutional crisis.

Analysts say Democrats are still on track to win the House majority, with Trump's unpopularity pushing them farther into battleground areas.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar wasted no time throwing Gov. Tim Walz overboard during her first debate with Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth.

in the final hours of the 2024 session, the DFL jammed a number of priorities — rideshare driver pay, adjustments to paid medical leave and the child tax credit, a ban on straw gun purchases — into a 1,400-page bill. now, conservative legal orgs are fighting to strike down the whole bill

A conservative legal organization is representing homebuilders in a lawsuit aimed at invalidating parts of — if not all of — a 1,400 page mega-bill passed by the DFL-controlled Legislature in the chaotic final minutes of the 2024 legislative session.

Commentary: The Trump administration's constant lies have created a powerful branding tool for Democrats: the credibility gap.

Hundreds of Minnesota lakes, rivers, and creeks downstream of industrial sites have concerning levels of PFAS. We rarely know how much of these so-called forever chemicals make their way into the tissues of fish.

Under a sunny sky, people trickled into Commons Park in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday, forming a crowd of hundreds for a “No Kings” event focused on turning out voters for the midterm elections.

Michele Tafoya wouldn't say if she would join President Trump on stage. Peggy Flanagan wouldn't say if she would campaign with Gov. Walz. minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/16/i...

The sheer size of investment in data centers is drawing concern as it surpasses all other historical booms. Data centers are on track to account for twice the GDP of the railroad buildout of the 19th century.

Commentary from Conrad Zibowski, describing first-hand what inpatient mental health stays are like, and why he says medication and hospital stays shouldn't be demonized by the MAHA set.

In recent election questionnaires, House Speaker Lisa Demuth said she voted to cap the price of insulin for Minnesotans. But in both 2019 and 2023, Demuth, alongside nearly every other Minnesota Republican, voted against measures that would reduce insulin prices.

The next act for the No Kings movement: Early voting in the midterms minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/15/r...

The Minnesota Department of Health is urging people to get vaccinated for measles if they haven’t already. The guidance comes amid two outbreaks of measles since mid-September in rural Fillmore and Todd counties.

Minneapolis will not require human drivers in robotaxis after council fails to override veto minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/15/m...

Minneapolis council fails to override mayoral veto of ban on driverless robotaxis minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/15/m...

Trump: Execution of Fort Hood shooter will not be livestreamed minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/15/r...

‘Godly leadership’: Lisa Demuth’s Pentecostal faith is a driving force behind her politics.

Nonpartisan government watchdog recommends automated activation of ICE body cameras minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/14/r...

Klobuchar, Demuth have school plans, but neither addresses funding challenges minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/14/k...

Michele Tafoya just got what most Republican candidates crave more than anything: President Donald Trump’s endorsement. She demurred. minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/13/m...

Homocides are in a historic decline. Researchers point to targeted community intervention programs and pandemic recovery as the major factors, but stress that many interrelating factors are at play.

Jake Johnson, Democratic underdog candidate in red CD1, is campaigning in a more competitive race than his district usually sees. High costs and tariffs are squeezing farmers in this rural district, giving Democrats the possibility of an upset.

Commentary: Somali Minnesotans deserve fair governance — no scapegoating and no special protections.

Democratic leaders in the U.S. House condemned a “deeply disturbing” raid early Monday at the D.C. home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has long been a target of verbal attacks by President Donald Trump and Republicans.