Welcome to the first day of the 2022 election, or at least the first day when 2022 no longer has to act as though it is politely waiting for the 2021 election to be over.
It is over. Yet many of the issues fought over in the Minneapolis and St. Paul city elections will make the transition to races for Congress, governor and for control of the Minnesota Legislature. At the top will be public safety and housing affordability. And GOP candidates for governor have already noticed that certain issues — like COVID safety rules for schools and curriculum changes — will be potent in suburban swing districts.
As much as those in each party’s core areas — DFLers in the Twin Cities and Republicans in Greater Minnesota — like to think they are the most important voting blocs, it’s swing voters in suburban areas who deliver victory for governors and legislative majorities in Minnesota. And it is the issues fought over locally and nationally Tuesday that will provide the fodder for 2022 campaigns.
Minneapolis voters managed to disappoint both the political left and the political right Tuesday in defeating the public safety charter amendment known as Question 2. The backers of the measure, which would have ended the requirement for a minimum number of police officers and created a department of public safety, saw it as the next step in a reform effort begun with protest over the murder of George Floyd.
And while Republicans oppose those changes, they would have welcomed the ability to tout passage of the amendment in campaign brochures next year — the same way they did with law-and-order mailers in suburban swing districts in 2020, when DFLers in the suburbs had to defend themselves against charges that they would defund the police, even if they never supported defunding the police.
For the GOP, the “Defund the Police” slogan is a gift that keeps on giving. Though Question 2 didn’t specifically do that — and though it failed to pass — GOP candidates for governor had to pivot, but only slightly, to filter the results through that lens while giving grudging admiration to city voters.
[image_caption]Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka[/image_caption]
“I am grateful the people of Minneapolis rejected this misguided attempt to defund the police,” said Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake.
And former Sen. Scott Jensen tweeted: “I’m happy sanity prevailed, but how did we even get here? These peacekeepers are our friends, families and neighbors. Enough of the demonization!”
[image_caption]State Sen. Michelle Benson[/image_caption]
“It saddens me that Gov. Walz did not have the courage to stand up to his radical base and actively campaign against this amendment to defund our police,” Benson said.
Gazelka dismissed Walz’s opposition to the amendment because it wasn’t for the right reasons. “His stated opposition was based on ‘confusing language’ rather than the outrageousness of the policy behind Q2,” Gazelka said.
[image_caption]Scott Jensen[/image_caption]
“Let me be clear, tonight’s results are not a mandate for the status quo,” Martin said Tuesday night. “Democrats in Minnesota are committed to improving public safety by investing in our criminal justice system while fighting for common-sense police reform measures.”
Two national elections provide a glimpse into how races across the country, including in Minnesota, might shape up.
Virginia GOP nominee Glenn Youngkin beat former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe with a campaign that tapped into parental anger in the suburbs and rural parts of the state over COVID restrictions and allegations that schools would be adopting critical race theory in the curriculum. While no schools in the state have such plans, it has become part of a GOP agenda across the U.S., which has been extended to supporting parents who demand to be heard, sometimes aggressively, by school boards and teachers.
[image_credit]REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst[/image_credit][image_caption]Glenn Youngkin speaking during his election night party at a hotel in Chantilly, Virginia.[/image_caption]
Both states went decisively for Joe Biden over Donald Trump in 2020, but attempts to link the GOP governor nominees to Trump didn’t work, or work well enough.
The party of incumbent presidents often suffers in the first congressional election following their inauguration, and races like Virginia and New Jersey that come one-year after presidential elections are considered early tests.
Benson and Gazelka both attempted to connect their campaigns to the themes that proved successful in Virginia and New Jersey. Gazelka said Youngkin’s win “demonstrates the value our citizens place on education. Our children are our future and we need to support their parent’s role in their education.”
Said Benson: “My campaign, like Glenn Youngkin, is focused on core issues like improving public safety, giving parents a voice in their children’s education, and creating a better business climate for job creation.”
And in a tweet, Jensen said: “From Virginia to Minnesota, the winners are the CHILDREN…. The heroes are the PARENTS. DON’T MESS WITH MAMMA BEARS. Whether it’s choices in education or health freedom, parents declared tonight, “THE STATE IS NOT OUR PARTNER.”
On Wednesday, Walz had just toured a vaccine clinic at the Mall of America delivering the first vaccines to children ages 5 to 11 when he was asked about the election results. He mostly avoided the national races, saying “I was elected to do the job here in Minnesota. I don’t spend a lot of time watching what other races do. I’ll keep focusing on things that matter, and that’s this,” he said, pointing to the vaccination operation.
On the Minneapolis charter vote, Walz said his concern was that the issue of public safety and reform “wasn’t going to be settled by a vote. That work has been going on for a long time, and we’ll continue to do that work.”
[image_credit]MinnPost photo by Peter Callaghan[/image_credit][image_caption]On Wednesday, Gov. Tim Walz had just toured a vaccine clinic at the Mall of America when he was asked about the election results: “I was elected to do the job here in Minnesota. I don’t spend a lot of time watching what other races do.”[/image_caption]
Walz also noted that most of the school funding referendums proposed by districts around Minnesota passed, a sign that people are supporting their schools. “People want to see work done,” he said. “They want to see compromise and they want to see real results.”
Congratulating MN from afar for the fact that the writings of Toni Morrison did not become an issue in your campaigns. Nor did the Parents’ Rights “movement,” far as I can tell, which states that because I can fertilize an egg, I’m qualified to approve curriculum for my children and others. Nor did the anti-vaxx offensive, or any of the other Virginia-style Trumper death cult dog-whistles. Bonus congrats for the fact that no one contested the results, or called them “rigged” in advance.
Oh, I’d hold off on congratulations for now. I suspect the statewide races next year will be just as nasty as everywhere else.
I suspect that the right-wingers are going to talk out of both sides of their mouth next year, particularly when it comes to the topic of covid.
One side of their mouths will say, “Walz didn’t do anything about the Delta variant surge and just let people die.”
The other side of their mouths will say, “Walz acted like a dictator and forced us to shut down businesses and wear masks.”
Either way, they will have no plan of their own.
Republicans won in one state. Being close in Nee Jersey is meaningless, as New Jersey very recently had a Republican Governor – Chris Christie. Around the country – big cities – Democrats.
The top Democrats in Minnesota, except for two, opposed the police charter amendment. Republicans suggesting otherwise as dishonest much like their favorite failed dictator. The citizens of Minnesota made wise choices including not one Republican, as Republicans havd nothing to offer cities but scorn.
Put Ed Durr New Jersey in your search engine. That’s what’s coming.
Oh, better also read up on Winsome Sears in Virginia.
Next year’s election will be interesting.
I suppose it’s plausible that MN Repubs will try to emulate the rhetoric of some Repub clown in VA, yapping about (non-existent) “critical race theory” being discussed in some classroom somewhere. As a political machine movement, that’s what “conservatism” does. The rhetorical groundwork is certainly being laid for it by the rightwing Hate Radio network and Fox “News”, the Volkischer Beobachters of the American right. Racial politics and racial fears is a divisive sport that “conservatives” never tire of, especially after Trumpolini made clear that it is a tactic that can pay big returns, contrary to what had become conventional wisdom.
It’s also possible that such gubernatorial swings are just a common feature of VA politics. Since his campaign was based on fantasy, it’s not very likely that Yunkin is going to be much of a success as a governor. But then, the people who voted for him likely don’t even know what they would consider “success”, if they bought his fantastical claptrap. In any event, trying to read some portents for other states from the innards of VA politics would likely baffle even true augurers…
The current Dem coalition is made up of urbanites and suburbanites. In theory it should be a strong coalition, especially when its Repub opponent presents a monolithic alternative of “conservatism”, a movement which has largely given itself over to irrationality, delusion and governmental failure. Unfortunately the inner ring and outer ring suburbanites see their themselves rather differently, and this presents a wedge for the nihilist “conservative” movement to exploit.
The idea that the state’s government did not have the interests of the state’s children in mind during the Covid pandemic is simply preposterous, and doesn’t withstand a moment’s scrutiny. Leave aside the fact that after the state lockdown of last year (which most certainly was done to protect children, given what was known of Covid at the time), local school boards have been in charge of school policy, not the governor or legislature. So attempting to inflame anger over school policy during the pandemic is merely a cynical attempt by Repubs to play on parents’ emotions. One can fall for it or not, at one’s option. But it’s an emotional response, not a thinking one.
As for “conservative”-stoked rage over (non-existent) “CRT indoctrination!” as a pressing societal “risk”, falling for that just makes one a fool…
This is hilarious, the first thing the left side does when they see some electoral changes is say ‘it was only one state, it was meaningless’. Ok keep thinking that way. This current administration and the extreme left wing is going to push all the voter sentiment the other way, as you saw in the Virginia statewide elections. This is just the start.
It was only one state. That is what is called a fact. New Jersey is not Virginia and the voting showed that.
We Democrats are going to keep doing the work of the country. Biden got us out of Afghanistan after 20 years. We are reading about tragic deaths in our own country – from rock concerts to families with unvaccinated members, not about Afghanistan. Trump talked about America First, Biden but what were his promises vs. results . Trump promised a Mexico financed border wall, a better healthcare system, passing an infrastructure plan, budget neutral tax cuts for the wealthy and that the pandemic would be nothing burger that would just fade away. He vowed to be faithful to the constitution, not whine about losing a election.
The loss in Virginia was quickly followed by the infrastructure bill, which is bring followed by another major piece of legislation paid for by taxes and cost savings. Democrats are fierce debaters, not rubber stamps. With infrastructure virtually all voted for a smaller plan that more moderate Republicans could support. Biden promised bipartisan and got it done.
Biden, Walz and our other Democratic leaders are not whining and blowing hot air – they are doing the hard work they are being paid for, not golfing, tweeting and constantly campaigning. If you want a party where a failed dictator calls the shots, vote Republican,