Politics Friday

• Minneapolis council member pushes for more public restrooms downtown

  Downtown Minneapolis is short on public restrooms, and City Council Member Katie Cashman is hoping to leverage a languishing streetcar fund to boost the toilet tally. The council votes on the 2026 city budget Tuesday night, and money is tight; Cashman’s proposal carries a $700,000 price tag. Cashman, who represents Ward 7, joined Cathy Wurzer on Morning Edition Tuesday to talk about the pros, cons and concerns of her bathroom proposal for the Nicollet Avenue transit corridor. Back in 2019, there was an effort to provide more restrooms downtown, but the city used Port-A-Potties and experienced some safety, security and maintenance concerns, Cashman said. Pre-COVID-19 pandemic, permanent public facilities were more widely available, too. “For example, the ABC parking ramps — those large ramps over by Target Field — had public restrooms, and since COVID, they just have not reopened,” she continued. “So we're dealing with a big lack of bathrooms all throughout downtown, throughout the city, and my proposal is to go with a private vendor who is providing more high-tech, standalone bathrooms.”Listen to the conversation by clicking the player button above.

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• Politics Friday: With Election 2025 in rearview mirror, eyes are now on 2026

  It was an eventful off-year election across the country. In Minnesota, St. Paul elected a new mayor, state Rep. Kaohly Her. It was in a surprise repudiation of the incumbent, Mayor Melvin Carter.  Across the river, Minneapolis voters gave their mayor, Jacob Frey, another term.  As the dust settles from the the 2025 election, momentum for the 2026 midterms is picking up. Minnesota will see an election as big as they come as voters will elect a governor, a new U.S. senator, key positions from the attorney general to the secretary of state, eight members of the U.S. House and the entire state Legislature — which is now as closely divided as ever. MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst and a pair of political analysts look back at this week’s voting and look ahead to what’s in store next year. Later in the hour, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Schwarze made his case on why he’s running and what he’ll have to navigate to reach the fall ballot. Updated on Nov. 13: There were some points in Schwarze’s interview where he referenced proven and alleged fraud in government-managed programs in Minnesota that required a closer look.He said “it’s purported now $6-8 billion that Peggy Flanagan and Tim Walz spent on fraudulent donations to foreign interest groups this last term.”Fraud is a legitimate public concern — one that is causing the Walz administration political problems and leading to new administration actions to detect and prevent it. There have been no independent or official reports that have the numbers that high. The suggestion that it was for “donations to foreign interest groups” is a stretch — even as some nutrition aid wound up being transferred abroad by alleged or convicted scammers.Federal prosecutor Joe Thompson, the lead U.S. attorney on the Feeding Our Future and other fraud investigations involving federal passthrough dollars, has said publicly that fraud in Minnesota is believed to be “in the billions of dollars.”Further into the interview, Schwarze claimed that Flanagan, the current lieutenant governor and a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, “racked up $354,000 on a government credit card” over two years without receipts.The attribution to Flanagan is false, according to auditors who first used that accurately cited figure in a recent audit. Legislative Auditor Judy Randall told MPR News this week that Flanagan wasn’t issued a purchasing card during the period reviewed.“Those payments related to Governor’s Office employees (not the Lieutenant Governor) who had state purchasing cards during that period,” Randall said, relaying a message from the auditor directly involved in the review.The audit did raise concern over lack of required documentation tied to the expenses, but the governor’s office said new procedures have since been put in place to address the reporting gaps.Guests: Chas Anderson is the co-CEO and senior principal at Park Street Public and a longtime Republican strategist. Todd Rapp is the president and CEO at Rapp Strategies and a veteran DFL strategist. Adam Schwarze is U.S. Marine veteran and former Navy SEAL seeking the Republican nomination for Minnesota’s U.S. Senate seat. Peter Cox is a correspondent for MPR News.Michelle Griffith is a reporter for the Minnesota Reformer.Nathaniel Minor is a reporter for the Minnesota Star Tribune.Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation or subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS. 

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• Minneapolis mayoral candidates make their cases to lead state's biggest city

  Voters in Minneapolis are electing a mayor this fall, and it's a crowded race with 15 names on the ballot. Four of the leading candidates for Minneapolis mayor address key issues and how they intend to lead their city in a MPR News/Minnesota Star Tribune debate. The candidates were selected because they’ve been the most active in their contacts with voters and in putting resources into the race.Incumbent Jacob Frey, state Sen. Omar Fateh, business owner and attorney Jazz Hampton and minister DeWayne Davis address public safety, property taxes, minimum wage and downtown development. MPR News senior editor Brandt Williams and The Minnesota Star Tribune’s metro columnist Eric Roper moderated the Minneapolis mayoral candidate debate from the UBS Forum in downtown St. Paul. MPR News/Star Tribune debate Minneapolis mayor candidates differ over policing, minimum wage at This event was recorded on Oct. 27. Watch the video stream of the debate on the MPR News YouTube channel.Guests:Jacob Frey is the two-term incumbent mayor for the city of Minneapolis. Omar Fateh is a DFL state senator serving Minneapolis. Jazz Hampton is a business owner and attorney in Minneapolis. DeWayne Davis is the lead minister of the Plymouth Congregational Church of Minneapolis. Use the audio player above to listen to the full debate or subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS. 

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• Politics Friday Special: Rochester's growth spurt is driving economic, political change

  Rochester is changing in many ways. City blocks are filled with construction work zones. Streets are littered with detours. Cranes tower over the skyline as a massive makeover plays out.Much of it is tied to a major medical expansion associated with the largest employer around — Mayo Clinic.  There have also been political shifts. Rochester is one of the shrinking number of places outside of the Twin Cities-area where Democrats seem to have an upper hand. It wasn’t always that way.On this special broadcast of Politics Friday, MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst heads to Rochester, where he and his guests talk about what’s behind the spruce-up and where the city’s politics fit in the southeastern part of the state. Politics Friday in Rochester, Minn. Plus, we’ll meet a candidate hoping to make his way to Congress from southern Minnesota. He’s an underdog out of the gate. Then, we’ll get to know more about Molly Castle Work, the newest MPR News reporter based in Rochester, and a special field production. Later, a politics panel with Dana Ferguson and Catharine Richert. Politics Friday: Voices from Rochester, Minnesota Matt Alvarez, Molly Castle Work, Lukas Levin, and Paton Whaley. On Fridays, MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst discusses Minnesota politics. The show often features a number of voices in a weekly audio postcard.In this special feature, MPR News reporter Molly Castle Work and producer Matt Alvarez ventured out to gauge the economic temperature from Minnesotans in the southeastern part of the state. Guests: Kim Norton is the Mayor of Rochester. She became the first woman to be elected Mayor of Rochester in 2018 after a prior stint in the Legislature. Patrick Seeb is the Destination Medical Center (DMC) Economic Development Agency Executive Director. Sen. Carla Nelson is a Republican representing the southeastern area of the state, now in her fifth term.  Jake Johnson is a Democrat running for election to the U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesota's 1st Congressional District. Molly Castle Work is an MPR News reporter based in Rochester. She covers health care in southeast Minnesota. Dana Ferguson is a political correspondent for MPR News. She has covered Minnesota politics and state government for Forum News Service. Catharine Richert is a correspondent based in Rochester, where she covers southeast Minnesota for MPR News. She also leads Talking Sense, a reporting project helping Minnesotans have hard conversations about politics, better.  This discussion was recorded at 125 LIVE in Rochester, Minn. on Oct. 21. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation or subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS. 

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• Politics Friday: St. Paul mayoral candidates lay out their visions for Minnesota's capital city

  Three candidates for St. Paul mayor addressed key issues and how they intend to lead the capital city in a MPR News/Pioneer Press debate. Incumbent Mayor Melvin Carter, DFL state Rep. Kaohly Her and scientist and business owner Yan Chen talked about their plans for addressing economic development, taxes, crime, homelessness and rising city costs. MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst and Pioneer Press reporter Fred Melo moderated the St. Paul mayoral candidate debate from the UBS Forum in downtown St. Paul. This event was recorded on Tuesday. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation, or watch the video stream of the debate on the MPR News YouTube channel.Guests:Melvin Carter is the incumbent mayor for St. Paul. Carter is running for a third term to serve Minnesota’s capital city. Kaohly Her is a DFL state representative serving St. Paul. Yan Chen is a scientist and business owner in St. Paul. Subscribe to the Politics Friday podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS. 

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