The top 10 stories of the year in Minnesota politics

It was an unprecedented year in Minnesota politics.

One Minnesotan ran for vice president, another mounted a primary campaign against the sitting president. A state senator’s burglary arrest upended the 2024 legislative session, and Minnesota Democrats lost their trifecta control of state government.

Here’s a look at the top 10 political stories of the year in Minnesota.

Gov. Tim Walz went from being mostly unknown outside Minnesota to vaulting onto the national stage. Walz’s profile had been rising as he led the Democratic Governors Association and campaigned for the Biden administration, and he seized the opportunity when President Joe Biden exited the race. The governor blitzed the cable news circuit and became one of the Democratic Party’s most effective messengers as he attacked Republicans as “weird people.” Vice President Kamala Harris named Walz her running mate and the two campaigned across the country.

But the Democrats came up short, losing to Republicans Donald Trump and JD Vance. In the end, it wasn’t clear if Walz had much impact on the race. His joyful, energetic attitude was a hit with faithful Democrats, but he struggled during his only televised debate against Vance and was scrutinized for making inaccurate statements.

U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips was among the first Democrats in the country to call for Biden to step aside. The congressman representing Minnesota’s Third District had repeatedly warned that Biden was too old and unpopular to win re-election. But Democrats weren’t listening, so Phillips mounted a defiant primary campaign against the president.

Phillips challenged Biden in more than a dozen states’ Democratic primary elections early this year. His best showing came in New Hampshire, where he won nearly 20% of the vote. But his campaign fizzled elsewhere, including in his home state. He ended his long-shot presidential campaign in March and endorsed Biden.

Several months later, other Democrats came around to what Phillips had been saying for two years. They called for Biden to step aside after watching him struggle in his first debate against Trump. After being ostracized by other Democrats, Phillips was vindicated.

The April burglary arrest of DFL state Sen. Nicole Mitchell sent shock waves through the State Capitol and upended the final months of Minnesota’s legislative session. The senator from Woodbury was arrested and charged with first-degree burglary, accused of breaking into her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home to take some of her late father’s belongings. Political fallout quickly ensued. Senate Republicans filed an ethics complaint against Mitchell and attempted to expel her from the chamber, while Democrats defended her as they clung to a narrow 34-33 majority.

Democrats removed Mitchell from caucus meetings and took away her committee assignments, but she continued to vote and helped the DFL pass bills along party lines. After the legislative session ended, Walz and Minnesota DFL chair Ken Martin called for Mitchell to resign, calls that she rebuffed. Her case is ongoing.

The Minnesota Legislature’s 2024 session ended in chaos. Democrats who controlled the House and Senate scrambled to pass their remaining bills in the 11th hour while Republicans filibustered. With time running short, Democrats merged several remaining bills on topics ranging from higher education to gun safety into a monster 1,400-page omnibus. They cut off floor debate and passed the massive bill in a single vote.

Cries of “tyranny” and “communism” rang through the Capitol as dozens of Republicans screamed into their microphones in protest. Some legislators and political observers were shaken as they watched the spectacle unfold, and they questioned if the Legislature could recover from such a meltdown.

In the aftermath, Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for the divisive end. DFL leaders said Republicans shouldn’t have filibustered, while GOP leaders said Democrats mismanaged the legislative clock in the session’s final weeks.

At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Walz gave the biggest speech of his political career, rallying Democrats in support of Harris. Walz’s family proudly watched on, and his son’s heartfelt reaction — he cried, stood up and mouthed the words, “That’s my dad!” — quickly went viral on social media.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan also had a prominent role in Chicago as one of four DNC co-chairs. She helped gavel convention proceedings open and closed, and introduced speakers such as Biden and former President Barack Obama.

Minnesota Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer snagged a prime-time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he cemented himself as a top Trump backer. Emmer was welcomed into Trump’s inner circle afterward, joining the former president and Ohio Sen. Vance in their box off the convention floor.

It was a remarkable turnaround for Emmer, coming less than a year after Trump tanked the Minnesotan’s bid to become speaker of the U.S. House.

About 46,000 Minnesotans voted “uncommitted” in the state’s Democratic presidential primary election, a major showing of discontent with how Biden handled the war in Gaza. The “uncommitted” faction was stronger than expected in Minnesota, earning 11 delegates to the DNC in Chicago.

Minnesota sent more uncommitted delegates than any other state. Those delegates made silent statements on the convention floor, writing “arms embargo now” on the backs of their hands and then placing their hands over their mouths during Biden’s speech. Other delegates stood up and lifted signs to block the protest from being seen by TV cameras.

Anti-establishment activists flexed their growing power in the Republican Party of Minnesota this year. They blocked Republican U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach from winning the GOP endorsement, rallying behind her conservative primary challenger Steve Boyd. Fischbach still cruised to victory, easily defeating both Boyd and her general election challenger.

At the state GOP convention, the activists ordered party leaders to write a letter in support of people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. And they helped former NBA player Royce White, who promotes conspiracy theories and has a history of legal and campaign finance issues, win the GOP endorsement to face Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar. White ended up losing to Klobuchar by about 16 percentage points.

Earlier this month, the activists helped oust Minnesota GOP chair David Hann from his leadership role. Party activists elected Wayzata City Council Member Alex Plechash as the new leader of the state GOP.

Republicans flipped three Minnesota House seats in the November election and ended the DFL’s trifecta control of state government. The GOP slammed Democrats on the campaign trail for spending most of a historic state budget surplus while also raising some taxes.

During their two-year trifecta, Democrats used the surplus to pour billions into education, infrastructure and new government programs. They legalized recreational marijuana, passed stricter gun laws, created a free school meals program and codified abortion rights, among other things.

The Minnesota House was poised to be tied 67-67 for the first time since 1979, but a district court judge ruled last week that a newly elected DFL candidate didn’t meet residency requirements and is ineligible to serve. Pending an appeal, Republicans will temporarily hold a one-seat majority in the House until a special election can be held to fill the safely blue Roseville seat. The DFL and GOP had already agreed on House committee membership, but they hadn’t decided who would be speaker. Republicans could choose to set their own structure if they end up with brief control.

Minnesota went from having a record budget surplus to seeing a projected deficit on the horizon. Earlier this month, state budget officials forecast a $616 million surplus in the next two-year budget cycle and a $5.1 billion deficit in the 2028-29 biennium. The outlook gave legislators whiplash and prompted Walz and DFL leaders to defend their spending decisions.

State leaders said the fiscal reversal is driven by the ballooning costs of special education and long-term care for adults with disabilities. Democrats argued that those are ongoing issues that wouldn’t have been solved by a one-time surplus. However, stowing away more of the previous surplus could have provided a short-term cushion against the headwinds.

Lawmakers will return to St. Paul on Jan. 14 to decide whether to start making budget adjustments now or wait to see how the economy changes over the next four years.

The FBI is investigating possible fraud in yet another state-funded program. First, federal law enforcement cracked down on the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. Now they’re investigating “substantial evidence” of fraudulent Medicaid claims in Minnesota’s autism program.

Republicans have raised the alarm for years about fraud in state government programs and called on Walz and his agencies to take the issue more seriously. After the FBI raided two autism centers in early December, Walz said the state should increase criminal penalties for Medicaid fraud.

The Walz administration found itself under intense scrutiny over the summer when the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) issued a pair of scathing reports. The OLA found that the Department of Education’s inadequate oversight of a federally funded meals program created opportunities for Feeding Our Future to steal $250 million. And the OLA found that the Department of Labor and Industry didn’t adequately verify the eligibility of people who received checks from a $500 million front-line worker pay program.

State legislators have signaled they plan to crack down on fraud and waste next year, and Republicans have said they want agencies to be held more accountable.