ANOTHER MONDAY
Wolves and Frost win. All the Hughes brothers will be in St. Paul tonight.
294 days until the general election, 211 days until the primary election, 22 days until caucuses.
More ICE agents arrive today - the videos aren’t getting better, the whistles are getting louder. Rumors and suggestions that Gov. Tim Walz will resign are rising, but reality is that it isn’t likely. Reports that the resistance is partially funded by tax dollars, should be explored further.
It’s the view from the rest of the country that will have the most impact our economy and the future of the state. Support your local businesses.
The Twin Cities saw numerous closed businesses and canceled events this weekend, including John Mulaney’s standup show. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/4jzVyFJ
At the Golden Globes, some celebrities wore pins responding to Renee Good’s killing. Slogans included “ICE OUT” and “BE GOOD.” AP: https://fluence-media.co/3YTA25n
Sun Country Airlines agreed to be acquired by Allegiant for $1.5 billion. Another job blow to the region.
Federal prosecutors are investigating Fed Chair Jerome Powell over alleged illegal renovations of Fed HQ. Powell’s video response shows another example of our need for independence and co-equal governance. NYT: https://fluence-media.co/3NqNMSp
In a must listen, Legislative Auditor Judy Randall joined Sunday Take to discuss fraud in state programs. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3YTziND
Blois - tips: bloisolson@gmail.com
The Fluence Forum - The State of Energy is Jan. 21.
DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek discussed the state’s new paid leave program on Sunday Take. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3NuT7Ig
Health Care will remain a top issue into 2026, the State of Health Care Fluence Forum panels from last week are now available in podcast form. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/FluenceForumPodcast
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The latest insight from Fluence Advisory on the loss of institutional knowledge from the Minnesota Legislature. READ:https://fluence-advisory.com/insights/
THE RACES
GOV RACE: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Ten GOP gubernatorial candidates remained laser-focused on the state’s ongoing fraud scandals in one of the crowded field’s first gatherings since 2026 began with a flurry of high-profile news in Minnesota. … But one of the biggest applause lines of the night came when Kendall Qualls, a military veteran and nonprofit leader who ran for governor in 2022, pivoted from a question on energy policies to address the Minneapolis killing that has spurred days of protests [and] blamed Democratic politicians for egging on Minnesotans. … Speaker Lisa Demuth [also] criticized Democratic politicians for creating the conditions for the fatal ICE shooting.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/456Bzsh
QUALLS: “Gov. [Tim] Walz, Mayor [Jacob] Frey and his chief of police have blood on their hands for what happened. This is a leadership problem — completely avoidable, like all of our freaking problems in this state. We’ve been a national embarrassment for eight years, and I am done with it.”
DEMUTH: “I expect the top leaders of our state — that’s Gov. [Tim] Walz and Mayor [Jacob] Frey — to not incite violence but come out against it instead of calling ICE agents the ‘Gestapo.’ That’s poor leadership from the very top. Cooler heads have to prevail.”
SENATE RACE: via MPR News, VERBATIM: “[Last week], Democratic Rep. Angie Craig and Republican Rep. Tom Emmer engaged in a heated argument just hours after an immigration agent killed a motorist. … To Peggy Flanagan, [this] House floor exchange glossed over a past vote by Craig to make immigration enforcement more permissive. Flanagan’s campaign said Craig ‘cravenly picked a fight’ with Emmer. … With Craig and Flanagan overlapping on several other issue stances, their divide on [immigration] could get elevated as both head toward an August nominating primary.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/455e3f4
FLANAGAN: “Congresswoman Craig was voting to praise ICE in June while she was running for the U.S. Senate. … Minnesotans have a really clear choice. Do you want someone who votes along with Donald Trump and the agents who are terrorizing our communities?”
CRAIG: “Minnesotans believe that we have to protect our borders. … If I were a lieutenant governor of a state right now, particularly this one, my number one priority would be helping the governor address the fraud issues. … She is abdicating all responsibility.”
CD8: via MPR, VERBATIM: “Another Democrat has joined the campaign to unseat 8th District Republican Rep. Pete Stauber. Trina Swanson has launched a campaign for the congressional seat. She says she recently retired as director for international operations for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. … Her campaign is focused on affordability and rural access to healthcare. … She joins four others who have filed paperwork to run as Democrats for the U.S. House seat.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3NG8Fcg
AUDITOR: via Wolgamott for Auditor, VERBATIM: “Representative Dan Wolgamott (DFL–St. Cloud) is proud to announce he has received his second labor endorsement as a candidate in the race for State Auditor, receiving the backing of the Inter Faculty Organization. … The IFO includes faculty, coaches, and counselors from the seven Minnesota State universities. They have approximately 4,000 members.”
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INVESTIGATION
DISTRUST: via NBC News and Meet the Press Mayor Jacob Frey VERBATIM: “Asked by “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker if he would accept the results of an FBI investigation of the incident, Frey said, “If it was an FBI investigation that was done jointly with an investigation from the [Minnesota] Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, we could have some trust that there were entities and individuals at the table that were properly reviewing the evidence.”…The mayor said he didn’t have preconceived notions about what conclusion an investigation by any agency would reach, but “there is deep mistrust” of federal agencies in Minnesota, “because so many of the things that we are hearing are not true.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/45NQnMq
MORE: via ABC News This Week, Sen. Tina Smith VERBATIM: “”I think what we are seeing here is the federal government -- [Department of Homeland Security Secretary] Kristi Noem, Vice President [JD] Vance, [President] Donald Trump -- attempting to cover up what happened here in the Twin Cities, and I don’t think that people here and around the country are believing it,” Smith told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz. READWATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4jDIa3d
OVERSIGHT: via Politico, VERBATIM: “A day after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem quietly ordered new restrictions on congressional visits to immigration detention facilities. … [Now], lawmakers must seek a week’s advance notice before conducting oversight visits. … That new policy [caused] a conflict that unfolded Saturday, when three House Democrats from Minnesota were denied entry to a detention facility in the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis. Reps. Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig and Kelly Morrison rebuked the agency after they were denied entry.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4pAYKCj
MORE: via Pioneer Press, VERBATIM: “Reps. Kelly Morrison, Angie Craig and Ilhan Omar told reporters that shortly after they entered the Whipple Federal Building, they were told ‘higher-ups’ had rescinded that permission and ordered them to leave. … The three lawmakers said they plan to continue seeking access to the facility and called on members of Congress from both parties across the nation to defend congressional oversight.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4szymLP
NOEM: via CNN, VERBATIM: “Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stood by the comments she made immediately after the killing of a Minneapolis woman by [ICE]. … Pressed on how she could have asserted that there’s no ambiguity in the situation or [Renee] Good’s motives before an investigation plays out, Noem said she had spoken to the officers and their supervisors and watched videos before she went to speak at the press conference after the shooting. … Noem said [CBP] is sending ‘hundreds more’ officers to Minneapolis.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Lp6MjK
WHITE HOUSE: via Politico, VERBATIM: “The Trump Administration’s rapid and aggressive response to the Minnesota shooting has prompted quiet concern among some administration allies, as well as former and current Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. … Even supporters of the president fear that the administration’s [rhetoric] risks undermining public confidence. … ‘Whatever outcome this investigation produces, I don’t see how anyone’s gonna believe it when the [White House] doubled down on a conclusion without knowing all the facts,’ said John Sandweg, who led ICE from 2013 to 2014. … ‘I don’t know how we recover from this,’ said an administration official.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4aVbmR1
CONGRESS: via AP News, VERBATIM: “The killing of a Minnesota woman by [ICE] is reverberating across Capitol Hill where Democrats, and certain Republicans, are vowing an assertive response. … Lawmakers are demanding a range of actions, from a full investigation into Renee Good’s shooting death and policy changes over law enforcement raids to the defunding of ICE operations and the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in what is fast becoming an inflection point. … Noem has been under fire from both parties for her lack of transparency at the department, though [impeachment] is highly unlikely with Republicans in control of Congress.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49Qsqqk
MORE: Rep. Betty McCollum is one of several Democrats in Congress calling for Sec. Kristi Noem to be impeached. McCOLLUM: “Secretary Noem should be fired. If she is not, I support impeachment by the House and conviction by the Senate for her obstruction of Congress and violation of the public trust. … Her deployment of unprofessional, poorly trained, masked immigration agents has put our neighbors in danger.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4b00tgZ
FEDS: via CBS News, VERBATIM: “Prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division were told they will not play a role in the ongoing investigation. … Leadership in the Civil Rights Division, overseen by Harmeet Dhillon, informed staff in the division’s criminal section that there would not be an investigation, two sources said. Normally, after a high-profile incident involving a fatal shooting by an officer, attorneys from the criminal section fly out to the scene. Multiple career prosecutors offered to do so in this case, but they were told not to.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3LpblKU
MORE: Speaking to reporters Friday, Pres. Donald Trump was asked if he thought the FBI should share evidence in the Renee Good investigation with Minnesota officials. Trump’s response: “Well, normally I would, but they’re crooked officials.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49POy40
STATEMENT: Via MPR News, Renee Good’s wife released a statement addressing her killing, the community response and what she was like in her personal life. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4pv76ev
CLEAN | RELIABLE | AFFORDABLE: via Xcel Energy, VERBATIM: “We’re powering the Upper Midwest with clean, reliable, and affordable nuclear energy. For more than 50 years, our Prairie Island Nuclear Plant, located near Red Wing, MN, has been a workhorse of reliable, carbon-free energy. With two pressurized water reactors producing about 1,100 megawatts, Prairie Island generates enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes across the Upper Midwest. Unlike sources that depend on weather, nuclear energy delivers 24/7 reliability — providing the power we need today while protecting the environment for tomorrow.” LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/4oCHdK9 (SPONSORED: Xcel Energy)
THE SQUEEZE…
FED FUNDS: via AP News, VERBATIM: “A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration cannot block federal money for child care subsidies and other programs aimed at supporting low-income families with children from flowing to five Democratic-led states for now. The states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York [were] impacted. … U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian [didn’t] rule on the legality of the funding freeze, but said the five states met a legal threshold ‘to protect the status quo’ for at least 14 days while arguments are made in court.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/45PrWye
MORE: via WCCO-TV, VERBATIM: “U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Friday that she is suspending payments on all active and future awards from the USDA to Minnesota amid the long-running fraud scandal. … In a letter addressed to Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Rollins said the suspended payments [total] over $129 million. … She asked Walz and Frey to provide her agency with justification for all federal spending to the state from Jan. 20 of last year ‘to the present’ within 30 days, and said that payments moving forward will ‘require such payment justification.’” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3YvUOHZ
SBA: via KARE 11, VERBATIM: “Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler has announced the agency will relocate its Minneapolis office following what she describes as ‘hostility’ towards [ICE]. … Loeffler accused the community of ‘refusing to protect their small business owners by impeding this Administration’s efforts to deport and detain criminal illegal aliens.’” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4qgwm9x
REFUGEES: via New York Times, VERBATIM: “The Homeland Security Department announced Friday that it was reviewing thousands of refugee cases in Minnesota, subjecting immigrants who had been approved for status to new interviews and background checks. … Homeland Security officials said the initial focus of the effort would be on the roughly 5,600 refugees in the state who do not yet have green cards.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/452UCUf
EMMER: via Rep. Tom Emmer advisory, VERBATIM: “House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) today announced that he is the newest member of the Sharia Free America Caucus, which was recently launched by Representatives Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Keith Self (R-Texas) to defend the American way of life against the rise of Sharia [law].” QUOTE: “Sharia is completely incompatible with the American way of life. … It is radical, oppressive, and must never be allowed to gain a foothold in America.”
AROUND THE STATE
LAYOFFS: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Cleveland Cliffs is expected to lay off another 45 steelworkers at Hibbing Taconite on Feb. 1, further reducing production at the mine that has been partly idled since last March, according to a union leader. … Because the number of laid-off workers was less than 50, no WARN notice was required. … About 250 workers will remain in February, less than half the number it typically employs.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3YDsnYC
OLMSTED CTY: via MPR News, VERBATIM: “Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson, whose jurisdiction includes Rochester and the surrounding area in southeastern Minnesota, has announced his retirement after more than four decades in law enforcement. Torgerson, who lives in Stewartville, will not seek a fourth term in the 2026 election and will formally step down from his office in January 2027.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4sBQt3y
BUSINESS EXCELLENCE: Flint Hills Resources was just awarded the 2025 Large Business of the Year award from the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce at their annual Business Excellence Awards celebration. The award celebrates the outstanding achievements of businesses that exemplify the thriving and growing spirit of Dakota County. The businesses honored make an impact and contribute to the continued success of our community. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/46lTpIs (SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources)
ROCHESTER: via Rochester Post Bulletin, VERBATIM: “Reduced ridership and increased expenses are driving proposed changes for Rochester Public Transit. The Rochester City Council is slated to receive an update Monday on potential steps to address the sustainability of the citywide service as work continues on a dedicated downtown bus rapid transit service. … Interim Transit and Parking Director Rachel Fautsch [said] Rochester Public Transit ‘is currently operating under financial conditions that are not sustainable over the long term.’ Pre-pandemic ridership numbers failed to return following the 2020 decline.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4pym2Zy
APPLE VALLEY: via Pioneer Press, VERBATIM: “Apple Valley city officials will be asking the state to pitch in $40 million this legislative session for a water-treatment plant that would ensure what’s coming out of the tap is safe to drink for future generations. The project, which would cost an estimated $106 million in total, would upgrade the city’s current treatment facilities in order to remove commonly called ‘forever chemicals’ from Apple Valley’s municipal water.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3NE7SZn
ANOKA: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “The city of Anoka is once again wading into a stink over a plainly routine service: who decides which company picks up residents’ trash. … Fourteen months after voters rejected a switch to city-organized garbage collection, Anoka officials are ready to recycle the idea. And much like the last time, the debate has proved to be one of the most contentious in the Twin Cities suburbs. … The yearslong debate hasn’t died down as residents argue over personal freedoms, rising costs, sustainability and misinformation.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4559HEM
WHAT’S NEXT
TODAY: Governor Tim Walz will visit VISTA Education Center.
TOMORROW: The Advisory Committee on Capitol Area Security will meet at 2:00 p.m. with an unannounced agenda.
WEDNESDAY: Clean Elections MN will host a webinar with Sec. Steve Simon and Atty. General Keith Ellison discussing “what’s being done to keep our elections safe, fair and secure,” per a release. The event is at 7:00 p.m.
THURSDAY: The subcommittee on federal impacts will meet at 10:00 a.m. with an unannounced agenda.
JAN 30: via DEED advisory, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Trade Office (MTO) is delighted to invite you to join Governor Tim Walz, Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Matt Varilek and Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen at a luncheon event to honor this year’s recipients of the Governor’s International Trade Awards.”
THIS MONTH: Sen. Jen McEwen, Rep. Liish Kozlowski and Rep. Pete Johnson are holding a Duluth town hall soon. The event is being rescheduled and will take place “later this month,” per a release.
BDAYS: journalist Baird Helgeson, Wayzata Mayor Andy Mullin, House comms pro Lindy Sowmick
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