FRIDAY FUN
Twins win.
Napheesa Collier will play basketball for Team USA in the FIBA Women’s World Cup. WCCO: https://fluence-media.co/4xq1Ayn
USA Today readers correctly named Minnesota’s State Fair as the best in the nation, with Wisconsin in 2nd and Iowa in 7th. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/4pYeCAt
Flights were halted at MSP Airport for over an hour due to “telecommunication issues.” MPR: https://fluence-media.co/4xowx5V
Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell has been discharged and returned home, but it’s unknown when he’ll return to work. AXIOS: https://fluence-media.co/4ghI0OY
There is only one week left to nominate a product for the annual “Coolest Thing Made in Minnesota” presented by the MN Chamber. HERE: https://fluence-media.co/4xlpWsT
Tomorrow’s Primary Primer will focus on what to watch on Tuesday for paid subscribers.
Sunday Take will preview the primary at 9AM on WCCO Radio.
Happy National Raspberries N Cream Day.
Blois - tips: bloisolson@gmail.com
Sunday Take featured a Farmfest preview and Republican Adam Schwarze discussing his U.S. Senate campaign. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3TyEK93
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HEALTHCARE: Strong communities depend on sustainable nonprofit healthcare. By planning to join leading, nonprofit healthcare system Sutter Health, Allina Health will be better positioned to expand access to high-quality, innovative care in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin - supporting patients, caregivers, and communities for generations to come. Learn more about the Allina-Sutter partnership.. HERE: https://fluence-media.co/AllinaHealth (SPONSORED: Allina Health)
SWING VOTERS: First in morning take, a survey of 947 swing voters by the Swing Voter Pilot finds that undecided Minnesotans are favoring the DFL in the U.S. Senate race. The poll defined “swing voters” as independent or undecided voters who “could plausibly support candidates from either party” based on key factors, and they were surveyed after watching this week’s Farmfest candidate forum. Results are summarized below. DETAILS: ONE-PAGER | WEBSITE
PRIMARY: Asked to choose one candidate per party, swing voters preferred Angie Craig over Peggy Flanagan, 59.7% to 40.3%, and Michele Tafoya over Royce White, 66.6% to 33.4%.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: In general election matchups, both DFLers defeated both Republicans. Craig beat White by almost 33 points (66.3% to 33.7%) and she beat Tafoya by 17 points (58.5% to 41.5%), while Flanagan beat White by over 24 points (62.1% to 37.9%) and she beat Tafoya by more than 8 points (54.2% to 45.8%).
ELECTABILITY: The combined average support of each candidate across all head-to-head matchups was used as a proxy for swing voter “electability,” and the DFLers came out ahead — 62.4% for Craig, 58.1% for Flanagan, 43.7% for Tafoya and 35.8% for White.
ISSUES: On eight issues discussed at Farmfest, Craig was perceived as better than Flanagan on all of them. Craig’s best issue was “solar farms and data centers” at 62.5%, while her worst was “tariffs and trade” at 50.8%. Meanwhile, Tafoya was perceived as better than White on all issues except two. Tafoya’s best issue was “solar farms and data centers” at 76%, while her worst was “tariffs and trade,” which White won at 57.1%.
PRIMARIES: KSTP’s final poll before Minnesota’s statewide primaries demonstrates that all but one contest will likely be competitive on Tuesday. Results are summarized below. POLL: https://fluence-media.co/4z9OE1l
GOP GOV: Mike Lindell continues to lead the field at 34%, with Speaker Lisa Demuth at 28%, Kendall Qualls at 17%, “another Republican” at 6%, and 16% undecided. Lindell is heavily favored among voters under 50, while voters over 50 prefer Demuth.
GOP SEN: Michele Tafoya has a major lead over her opponents at 48%, with Royce White at 13%, “another Republican” at 8%, Adam Schwarze at 5%, Tom Weiler at 3%, and 24% undecided. Tafoya has majority support among men and voters over 50.
DFL SEN: Rep. Angie Craig has a narrow lead — less than the margin of error — at 42%, with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan at 40%, “another DFLer” at 3%, and 15% undecided. Flanagan has a 12-point advantage among voters under 35, while Craig has an 18-point advantage among voters over 65.
AG RACE: In a general election matchup, the incumbent has expanded his lead since the last poll: Keith Ellison leads Ron Schutz by 8 points, 44% to 36%.
APPROVAL: Via KSTP, elected officials are continuing to see their approval ratings drop in Minnesota. Results are summarized below. POLL: https://fluence-media.co/4hk1yTQ
WALZ: Gov. Tim Walz is at 41% approval, 55% disapproval, 5% unsure. His net approval is down 2 points from the last poll, and a 39% plurality say they “strongly disapprove” of him.
TRUMP: Pres. Donald Trump is at 37% approval, 61% disapproval, 3% unsure. His net approval is down 4 points from the last poll, tied for his lowest ever, and 50% of Minnesotans now “strongly disapprove” of him.
KLOBUCHAR: Sen. Amy Klobuchar is at 47% approval, 40% disapproval, 13% unsure. Her net approval has dropped 19 points since June 2025.
ELLISON: A.G. Keith Ellison is at 38% approval, 40% disapproval, 22% unsure.
MNLEG: As a whole, the Minnesota Legislature is at 35% approval, 49% disapproval, 16% unsure.
THE TRAIL
MODERATION: Via WCCO-TV, Minnesota primary voters for both major parties are weighing the same dilemma: picking moderate candidates for the general election, or backing “fighters” who are further from the mainstream and closer to the party’s base. VERBATIM: “The DFL [Senate primary] is a battle that mirrors the divide between mainstream Democrats and progressives, with [Angie] Craig representing the more moderate wing of the party and [Peggy] Flanagan the progressive wing. … Some Republicans are open about the fact they think Flanagan would be easier to beat. … Republicans are also admitting they are worried about [Mike] Lindell on the November ballot, [but] political analyst Abou Amara said the attacks might help Lindell with the GOP’s MAGA base.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4q0UE8h
FRAUD: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “If there’s one thing Minnesota Republicans agree on this election cycle, it’s that fraud is the issue they believe gives them their best chance to win statewide. What they can’t agree on is who should be making that argument. … Mike Lindell said Minnesota needs an outsider willing to blow up the status quo. He proposed creating a state version of [DOGE]. … Kendall Qualls [said] lawmakers created the opportunity for fraud by stuffing too much spending into massive omnibus bills with too little oversight. Among Republican insiders, there’s a growing sense that [Lisa] Demuth has the strongest claim to the issue, [but] that hasn’t made her the front-runner.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3TDoFiw
LINDELL: via KARE 11, VERBATIM: “An administrative law judge found a complaint made against Mike Lindell for violating campaign law practices had enough probable cause to be presented to a three-judge panel before proceeding to an evidentiary hearing. Administrative law judge Nicholas B. Lienesch signed off on a probable cause order after determining that he believed there was a case to be made that MyPillow founder and Republican gubernatorial candidate violated the Fair Campaign Practices Act.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4wiLAND
MORE: Republican Mike Lindell released a budget framework for his gubernatorial campaign yesterday, laying out a plan to eliminate the state’s income tax by significantly cutting its annual budget. Lindell also spoke to FOX 9 about his campaign for governor, his proposal to eliminate Minnesota’s income tax and more. A transcript of his comments is available. DETAILS: BUDGET | FOX9
MORE LEADERS. MORE IDEAS. COMPLIMENTARY REGISTRATION: You are invited to attend Compeer Financial’s complimentary Rooted & Rising: Rural Forum this September 14-16 as leaders from across rural communities come together to strengthen the towns we call home. The event brings together community champions, local officials, nonprofit partners and business leaders to explore strategies that strengthen rural economies and expand opportunities. You’ll join more than 30 speakers and fellow leaders for practical ideas, inspiring stories and meaningful connections focused on economic development, workforce, housing, entrepreneurship and community leadership. We encourage you to invite a colleague, community partner or fellow rural changemaker to join you. Registration will remain open as space allows. Secure your seat at no cost today. REGISTER: https://fluence-media.co/4q3pJZ2 (SPONSORED: Compeer Financial)
FLANAGAN: Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan spoke to KSTP about her Senate campaign, her priorities and more. Flanagan said she does not support the war in Iran or sending weapons to Israel, and she thinks “we need to rip ICE apart.” A transcript of her comments is available. READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4gimIAE
CD8: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “The DFL-backed candidate running to oust Republican Pete Stauber from his northeast Minnesota Congressional seat had an insider’s view of the Trump Administration’s immigration policies as they first played out last year. Trina Swanson retired in September from her role as the director of international operations for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. … She’s hoping to capitalize on what she sees as governmental dysfunction under Trump and the experience she gained as an immigration civil servant for almost two decades.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4bzTw5G
A deep dive into the CD1 race between Rep. Brad Finstad and Jake Johnson for MNSider subscribers. HERE: https://fluence-media.co/49OqNJu
FARM BILL: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “The U.S. Senate’s push to fast track the farm bill fizzled Thursday after Sen. Amy Klobuchar and other Democrats opposed a committee draft that would leave Minnesota counties with millions of dollars in new SNAP costs. Last year’s cuts to [SNAP] included a cost shift to states. But in states like Minnesota that rely on county administration to run the program, the shift will add millions in costs that could only be covered through property tax increases. … The final vote failed along party lines.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4qlDhzr
RESPONSE: via Dan Glessing, MN Farm Bureau president, GLESSING: “Today’s setback is a disappointment. The bill included several provisions our members advocated for, including year-round E-15, but not moving it forward today sets up farmers for continued unpredictability. This has been a priority for our members for over three years, and to see it pushed down the road again is frustrating. We urge the committee to come together and pass this important legislation.”
MORE: via Sen. Tina Smith statement, SMITH: “I’m disappointed that we could not come to agreement on the Senate Farm Bill today, but we will keep working to find a path forward. It’s crucial that we pass a bipartisan Farm Bill that meets the needs of farmers, ranchers and rural America, including year-round E15.”
FED FUNDS: via Office of the Atty. General, VERBATIM: “Attorney General Keith Ellison has won another victory in the March 2025 lawsuit he filed against the [EPA’s] efforts to stop the flow of congressionally approved funds to state-based projects. … The U.S. Court of Appeals [has] upheld a preliminary injunction that a federal district court granted in April 2025 that blocked the EPA from enforcing its termination of those grant funds. In so doing, the court reversed a prior ruling of a three-judge appellate panel that had overturned the preliminary injunction, and within a week will lift the existing stay on the enforcement of the injunction.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4g0hj00
CHURCH: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Attorneys for Twin Cities journalist Georgia Fort asked a judge on Thursday to throw out federal charges against her over an anti-ICE protest at a St. Paul church, arguing the indictment violates her First Amendment free speech rights. … ‘The law is clear that a journalist does not aid and abet or conspire with protesters simply by covering them,’ Fort’s attorneys stated.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4wJ1xxs
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)
METRO
ST PAUL: via Pioneer Press, VERBATIM: “Citing a critical last-minute memo from the city attorney’s office, the St. Paul City Council voted Wednesday to block a proposed ‘Right to Repair’ tenants’ rights ordinance from proceeding to the November ballot. … The proposed ballot question was ‘too broad,’ conflicts with state law and is potentially unconstitutional, said Council Member Cheniqua Johnson, one of the council’s leading tenants’ rights advocates.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4xkrlju
MPLS: via KSTP, VERBATIM: “Minneapolis leaders say the city needs a more accurate forecast of police overtime spending, as overtime spending has surged past the set budget. … Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said police overtime is expected to reach nearly $23 million this year, but the department was budgeting $2.3 million. … Frey said the nearly $23 million expected in overtime this year is less than the cost of funding the department at its 2020 staffing level of 888. He said officers are responding to the city’s needs with the officers they have.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4hRSZzM
MORE: via KARE 11, VERBATIM: “Instead of issuing new limits on [overtime] hours, the mayor says the fix will be a ‘slight reduction’ in overtime spending, and a big shift toward more realistic budgeting.” FREY: “We were drastically undercounting the dollar figure necessary in the budget to complete those overtime hours. $2.3 million was never anywhere close to accurate.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4fV5Lea
HABITAT RESTORATION: Flint Hills Resources has earned Tandem Global WHC Gold Certification for habitat restoration at its Cottage Grove fuel terminal. The certification comes after two years of work in partnership with Friends of the Mississippi River to implement a restoration and monitoring plan to re-establish the 6.5-acre site’s natural prairie and savannah. Flint Hills has held gold certification for its work done with community partners over the past 25 years to restore more than 200 acres of the Pine Bend Bluffs, a critical natural area along the Mississippi River that is adjacent to Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend refinery. This makes two Flint Hills gold-certified sites in Minnesota and the first two gold-certified sites ever in the Twin Cities. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/3VASKg4 (SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources)
HIGHER ED
MSU: via Bring Me The News, VERBATIM: “In an attempt to close a $22 million budget shortfall, Minnesota State University, Mankato is making some major changes to its workforce. In an email [this week], University President Edward Inch shared news regarding the upcoming cuts, which are expected to impact about 60 faculty and staff positions [in] late August. … In addition to workforce reductions, the university will begin charging credit card fees for things like tuition and ticket purchases – something it previously absorbed to the tune of $1.4 million. It will also freeze all professional development allocations for administrators and curb the number of graduate assistant positions.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4z1f2u3
UMN: via The Guardian, VERBATIM: “When the University of Minnesota (UMN) extended an offer to historian Raz Segal to lead its Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies in June 2024, it did so upon the near-unanimous recommendation of a committee of academics. … But five days after making the offer, the university abruptly withdrew it, citing ‘perspective’ it had received from members of the community. The reversal followed backlash over Segal’s criticism of Israel. … Last week, more than two years since the offer was rescinded, Segal reached a $250,000 settlement with the university.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4fMSsfO
MORE: via Bring Me The News, VERBATIM: “A new University of Minnesota policy prohibits students from doing homework while working front desks at campus residence halls. The new policy was rolled out by the university’s Housing & Residential Life department ahead of the upcoming school year. … Students working overnight shifts may still complete homework under the new policy, though personal electronic devices remain prohibited at all times.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/45ga6E3
UMR: via Rochester Post Bulletin, VERBATIM: “A $1.4 million building purchase near Soldiers Field Park by the University of Minnesota is the latest in a long string of deals dating back to 2010 with the possible long-term goal of eventually building a Rochester campus. … The Regents of the University of Minnesota paid $1.4 million to NWR LLP of Byron, Minnesota, to buy the [building]. … The university intends to demolish the building ‘as soon as [it’s] practical.’ … The university has purchased and demolished at least 10 buildings along First Avenue and Broadway in the past 16 years, while edging toward the original vision of a 10.5-acre campus.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hjpVBd
LOOKING AHEAD
TODAY: Minnesota Farmfest concludes today in Redwood County. SCHEDULE: https://fluence-media.co/4pQIEGw
TODAY: Governor Tim Walz will attend Farmfest.
TODAY: The Twin Cities Coalition for Justice will host a press conference at 10:00 a.m. to “demand Amy Klobuchar repair harm caused to Black Minnesotans,” per social media. Klobuchar’s DSA opponent Kobey Layne shared the post.
TODAY: U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar will host a town hall in Richfield on Thursday, Aug. 6 at 6:00 p.m.
SATURDAY: Sen. Amy Klobuchar will attend a Q&A at Game Fair to discuss hunting, mining, and other outdoor topics on Saturday, Aug. 8 at 11:00 a.m.
AUG 4-13: Fluence sponsor Xcel Energy and industry partners will host a series of open houses on their planned “PowerOn Midwest” electric transmission projects from Tuesday, Aug. 4 to Thursday, Aug. 13. SCHEDULE: https://fluence-media.co/4yHUlDi
SEPT 9: The IRRR Board is hosting its third annual “State of the Range” event in Chisholm on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 4:00 p.m.
We won’t ask for “membership” to list your BDAY, and we won’t have pledge drive but you can support the Fluence work by paying for premium content.
BDAYS: Winthrop’s Tom Hanson, Schwarze staffer Zavier Bicott, lobbyist Dan Pollock, Star Tribune’s Erin Adler, K102’s Chris Carr, farmer Richard “Swede” Syerson
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IN MEMORIAM: morning take is dedicated in memory of Melissa Hortman.