Another election cycle has come to a close … almost.

As we publish, it appears that absentee ballots are still being counted.  Final 2020 voting statistics are not final.  However, the numbers that are available are worth considering.  The following analysis is based on information from the MN Secretary of State[https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/election-results/].

Across Minnesota, 80% of the estimated eligible voters voted in the Presidential race.  This is the highest turnout in Minnesota since 1956, when 83.1% of voters turned out. Contrast this to 2016, when the voter turnout was 74.7%. 

In 2016, President Trump lagged Hillary Clinton 1.367 million votes to 1.323 million votes, less that 45,000 votes, or 1.5%.  In that year, minor party candidates had 254,000 votes (8.6%).  If President Trump had gotten even 25% of that minor party vote, he would have taken Minnesota.

This year, President Trump’s total went up, but former VP Biden went up by more.  The Republican candidate lagged the Democrat candidate 1.484 million votes to 1.718 million votes, less than 234,000 votes (7.1%).  The votes that went to minor parties and write-in votes in the 2016 Presidential race appeared to go primarily to the Democratic candidate.  The minor party votes totaled only  76,288 votes (2.3%). 

As the MPR News chart above shows, Biden led other Democrats down-ticket by a significant number.  The minor parties that garnered 2.3% of the vote at the Presidential level had a bigger impact in the next tier races.  In the Senate contest and the eight Congressional races, minor parties had 7.8% and 5.1% of the vote, respectively.

The estimated number of eligible voters has increased from 2016 to 2020 by 146,132 (4%).  This is about a 1% increase from 2018, after a 2% jump from 2016 to 2018.

Minnesota voters have traditionally been more willing to vote both sides of a ballot.  There was some evidence of this in the Qualls vote for Congress in the 3^rd Congressional District.  Kendall secured 44.3% in his contest, outperformed Trump by 5% and Lewis by 4.2%.

Elections results in Minnesota are expected to be close. There are many races that are too close to call. Keeping control of the MN Senate depends on suburbs.

Every Republican voter is needed. If you need help getting to your polling place and you live in Bloomington, Richfield, or Edina call 952-856-3028 as early as you can.

Volunteers to be official poll watchers are still being accepted, and training is underway. Poll watchers are already in place at urban early-voting sites and will be needed for a week after election day at mail-in ballot handling locations. MN GOP is working with the Trump Election Integrity team to ensure the mandatory credentialing (with the MN Secretary of State) and to schedule shifts after training is completed. SIGN UP HERE  on the MN GOP site, at the Election Protection tab. CD3 in-person training is on Wed Oct 21, and online training is also available. 

The Election Integrity Hotline is 651-369-9806. This phone number is to be used to report an election incident or anything unusual observed in or around polling places.

As early-voting trend numbers are reported by the media, take note that Republicans for the most part seem to be planning to vote in person, while Democrats seem to be voting early in large numbers. Reporting is slanted to discourage the "sometimes" voters from showing up on Election Day. Republicans need to keep up turnout efforts through 8 PM November 3 by personally encouraging friends and neighbors to vote.

When reading pre-election polling results, it is essential to drill-down a bit to find the "refusal" rate. Republicans tend to balk or refuse to answer questions that ask, by name, whether they voted (or intend to vote) for a specific candidate.

Tom Barnard interviewed Kendall Qualls, Republican candidate for Congress in the 3rd Congressional District, on the 92 KQRS Morning Show, October 5. Qualls reiterated the thread that has consistently run through his campaign, that the American Dream still works. It might take a little sweat equity on your part, but most Americans will reach out a hand to help.

Over the course of his personal life and professional career, Qualls has been helped by people of all backgrounds. Rich and poor, male and female, black and white, Kendall stressed that Americans help each other. The narrative that is coming from the left is not the narrative of our country.

Tom Barnard questioned how we have come to the point where people say, in effect, “You disagree with me; therefore, I hate you.” Kendall responded that we have had generations of people that have not necessarily known the true history of our country. Often what has been taught in high schools and colleges across our country is that America is bad, that we demolish peoples and cultures to get where we are. We are just now seeing the toxic effect that is having on the national dialogue. Kendall urged that no matter where we are on the political spectrum, we need to stand up and denounce this intolerance, to say that this is not who we are as a people.

Kendall told Tom that “Yes, we do have racist people in this country, but we are absolutely not a racist country “. People are responding positively to that message. People that have not been active politically are telling Kendall that his story is their story, that his America is their America.

Click below to listen to the full 11 minute interview.

Senate District 49 Republicans have neither been asked nor decided on our own to endorse or recommend any of the current candidates in this year’s Edina City Council election. Individually, we may have our own preferred candidates for the two open seats, and we take particular notice of how they perform at public forums.

We found it especially noteworthy when candidate Carolyn Jackson had a bad night at the virtual candidate forum held by the Edina League of Women Voters on September 17. Unlike the other five candidates who participated, Jackson was unable to make her microphone function properly. She delivered a badly garbled introductory statement and struggled through repeated re-tries.

Jackson’s technical incompetence and lack of preparation was disturbing, but what was even more revealing was her reaction. Twice during the forum, Jackson’s frustration erupted, including shouting at someone off-camera and an outburst of profanity. This was all carried live on channels 813 and 16.

The Edina League of Women Voters attempted to cover up Jackson’s incompetence and intemperance by posting an edited version of the forum on their website with a new introduction. After community blowback, the league reposted the original, unedited version of the forum, including Jackson’s meltdowns. It does include a re-recording of Jackson’s introductory remarks, but includes it at the end. For more on this story, see the Edina Sun Current.

The full video of the Edina City Council candidate forum may be viewed on the Edina League of Women Voters website or Edina TV (the City of Edina YouTube channel). (Jackson’s technology problems and response are at 15:50 to 18:00, 20:17 to 23:16, culminating in 26:06 to 27:50.)

Although the Edina City Council race is ostensibly non-partisan, Jackson is a prominent Democrat. Jackson ran for the Democratic endorsement for the Minnesota House in district 49A in Edina in 2018, losing to Heather Edelson, the current Democrat state representative for 49A. The website LeftMN credits her with a leadership role in defeating the Republican-led Voter ID Amendment ballot initiative in 2012, when she was the Legislative Coordinator for the ACLU of Minnesota.

The Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) has been in existence for only 21 months.  Yet, it has already established itself as a force in initiating litigation to address left-wing injustice, lawlessness and tyranny through the courts. 

Northland Baptist and Shady’s Bar & Grill cases:  Governors who rule tyrannically without law or Legislative oversight were supposed to be abolished by the U.S. Revolution.  Yet Walz’s overreach through emergency orders continues.  Court hearing was set for October 19.

Action Against Defunding the Minneapolis Police: the Minneapolis City Charter requires the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor to fund and employ at least 743 active-duty, licensed police.  Given the hostile environment created by the City Council, many police officers are retiring and taking leave from the force.  Not surprisingly, homicides and other violent crimes are up substantially over 2019 numbers.  UMLC is representing a coalition of eight black and white citizens who live on the North Side of Minneapolis and simply do not feel the city is meeting its obligation to keep them safe.  The case has been expedited and was heard by Judge Jamie Anderson in Minneapolis on October 19.

Janus Cases for Public Employees (Hoekman, Prokes, Fellows, and Brown): Despite the U.S. Supreme court’s Janus decision, government unions like the Teachers’ Union, AFSCME and SEIU continue to prevent public employees from resigning and stopping payroll dues deductions.  Court hearing is set for November 10.

Governor Walz’ Illegal Forced Masking: UMLC has challenged Governor Walz’s mask order as directly contrary to state law, based on zero legal Gubernatorial authority and issued in defiance of Legislative authority. Court hearing is set for November 13.

Project Veritas released two videos in late September, purporting to show individuals running a ballot-harvesting scheme out of two Minneapolis high-rises. A source quoted in the video claimed that one of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s staffers is central to the operation and even pays voters for their ballots.

On Monday, September 28, Republican House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt called on Secretary of State Steve Simon to conduct a “full and robust investigation” following allegations of systemic voter fraud in Minneapolis.

Alpha News reported that Simon had not publicly commented on the allegations as of Monday night, but Daudt and state Rep. Jim Nash, the Republican lead on the House Subcommittee on Elections, requested a response from his office by Friday, October 2.

“As Minnesota’s top election official, you have a responsibility to ensure fairness and integrity of our elections,” they said.

On September 30, the Minnesota House Republican Caucus released a video that Governor Walz apparently does not want our mainstream media to see.
Using his self-declared emergency powers, Gov Walz authorized the purchase of a large warehouse in May. Without consulting with the state legislature, the governor determined that the $7 million purchase was required to handle a significantly large number of dead Minnesotans, based on projections of a hastily-constructed public health model.

After the purchase, the state-owned “morgue” has been off-limits to the public until Representative Jim Nash (R, Carver County), Representative Marion O'Neill (R, Maple Lake), and Senator Michelle Benson (R, Ham Lake) were finally allowed to tour it. What they found were pallets and pallets of such things as disposable isolation gowns.

The takeaway: it was an unnecessary use of taxpayer funds, was never and will never be used for its intended purpose, and is a shining example of why the legislature needs to be involved in these decisions — governing by the whims of one man is not working.

Bloomington is facing a multi-million dollar budget shortfall as a result of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions imposed on the travel, entertainment, and retail businesses. To ensure budget discussions reflect community preferences, the City Council appointed a Community Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC) in May, 2020.

The advisory committee is made up of nine members who have knowledge of municipal budgets and City government. The Community Budget Advisory Committee was chartered to engage community members and review the City’s budget and services to provide recommendations to address the budget challenges.

In September, the committee asked what services matter most to residents. In October, the committee will present budget reduction recommendations to the community for comment.

Two online feedback sessions will be conducted via Zoom to gather feedback. Per the city website  - Registration to participate is required.
- Thursday, October 15 from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Register HERE
- Saturday, October 17 from 10 - 11:30 a.m. Register HERE
Bloomington residents may also respond to on-line surveys at Bloomington's Lets Talk webpage
Three scenarios will be presented to the City Council in November, 2020.

As a candidate for the MN House in District 49B, Joe Thalman has stressed the importance of public safety and security. His support for local police forces has been unwavering. He knows that police have challenging jobs today. A lot is expected of them, and he wants them to know that he has their back.

In recognition of his support, the Minnesota Police & Peace Officers Association and the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis have both voted to endorse Joe Thalman for election to the Minnesota House.

Volunteers have stepped up and written over 4,500 post cards supporting Kendall Qualls, the GOP endorsed candidate for Congressional District 3.
Never doubt that it is having an impact. This came from one recipient:

“Not sure this will get to Kendall, but I got your postcard in the mail, and while I think Dean Phillips seems like a good guy and intelligent (per the phone town-halls), I'm not sure he addressed many of the concerns that he suggested he heard (for instance, a small business owner raised a concern that the $600 bonus in unemployment benefits was causing him to not be able to afford to rehire employees, because they were making more on unemployment than working. Dean said he can relate as a business owner himself, and that it will be addressed in future discussions.

“At this point it feels like a lie, and I'm a working person. And 100% voting record with Pelosi? Right now that doesn't seem like a very good thing. Clearly he's a hard line Dem 1st, constituents 2nd.