Star Tribune
A detailed look at the legislative races going to a recount
Party control of the Minnesota House was uncertain heading into Tuesday’s election, and now it’s clear that two districts are heading to an automatic recount. Detailed precinct maps of each district, 14B in St. Cloud and 54A in Shakopee, show where each candidate had strength and where they were close to tying. If both current leaders prevail in their recounts, the House would be evenly divided with 67 DFLers and 67 Republicans.
This district, which includes central St. Cloud and surrounding Minden and Haven townships, saw 19,486 votes cast across 20 precincts. DFL Rep. Dan Wolgamott leads GOP challenger Sue Ek by 28 votes before the recount. Wolgamott’s support and largest margins came in the area near downtown St. Cloud. He prevailed in several St. Cloud precincts, but his margins were smaller. Ek, by comparison, drew substantial support in Minden and Haven townships, with margins nearing 50 percentage points or more. But those areas have fewer voters. She also saw strong support in two precincts in northwest St. Cloud.
In Shakopee, the race was even tighter. Just 13 votes separate DFL Rep. Brad Tabke and Republican challenger Aaron Paul here, where 21,895 votes were cast in 13 precincts. While Paul won in many precincts, his margins were small. Tabke had a nearly 11-point margin in northeast Shakopee and a 14-point margin in one precinct north of Shakopee High School. In one precinct near Canterbury Park, the two candidates were separated by a single vote.
Two other very tight races were called for the Republican candidates: District 3B north of Duluth and District 48B in Chanhassen and part of Chaska — the area just north and west of Shakopee’s tight contest.
In 3B, DFL challenger Mark Munger did predictably well in west Duluth and the precincts immediately on the outskirts of Duluth, while Republican Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar posted larger margins in Hermantown and several townships. She also posted an 18-point lead in Fredenberg Township, where both she and Munger reside. In the end, 160 votes separated the two across the district.
In 48B, there was a slightly larger vote margin between the two candidates. DFL Rep. Lucy Rehm notched 225 more votes than GOP challenger Caleb Steffenhagen. Steffenhagen prevailed in a few precincts in north and southeast Chanhassen, but posted his biggest margins in one Chaska precinct. Rehm had more votes in all the others, with a 10-point margin in the northeast corner of Chanhassen.
DULUTH – Two people are dead from gunshot wounds, according to the Duluth police, who were summoned to the house on the 6000 block of Tacony Street for a welfare check Thursday afternoon.
Neighbors in the West Duluth neighborhood said a woman lives at the house with her teenage son, but that they kept to themselves. Duluth police and crime-scene investigators were on site during the early evening.
According to the department, it remains an active investigation.
Officers at the scene could not provide more information but did confirm that the shootings are not related to the three-day string of burglaries on the east side of Duluth.
With a ceremonial groundbreaking on Thursday afternoon, the city of Woodbury began construction of its $330 million water treatment plant to scrub city water of PFAS chemicals.
It’s the city’s largest capital improvement project ever, and the plant when completed and turned on in 2028 will be the largest of its kind in Minnesota, capable of cleaning 32 million gallons of water daily.
“We are dedicated to ensuring that we provide clean drinking water to our community for now and for generations to come,” Mayor Anne Burt said, speaking to a group of city staff, elected officials, and others at the M Health Fairview Sports Center fieldhouse, where officials gathered for a ceremony and speeches after the nearby groundbreaking.
The new plant will be located at Hargis Parkway east of Radio Drive, adjacent to East Ridge High School.
The city expects to pay roughly 10% of the plant’s cost, said Jim Westerman, assistant public works director. The remainder will be covered by the $850 million settlement 3M reached with the state of Minnesota in 2018 for the contamination of groundwater under the east metro.
Originally estimated to cost up to $400 million, the plant’s total cost came in lower due to competitive bidding, Westerman said.
The plant will require 17 miles of new pipelines to connect the city’s wells. Installation of those pipelines began in August and will continue over the next four years along existing roads.
A temporary treatment plant opened in 2020 continues to scrub groundwater at nine city wells that have levels of PFAS above state health department guidelines. Once the new plant comes online, the temporary plant will be shuttered and its equipment either moved to the new plant or auctioned off, Westerman said.
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has named Susie Wiles, the manager of his victorious campaign, as his White House chief of staff, the first woman to ever hold the influential role.
Wiles is widely credited within and outside Trump’s inner circle for running what was, by far, his most disciplined and well-executed campaign, and was seen as the leading contender for the position. She largely avoided the spotlight, even refusing to take the mic to speak as Trump celebrated his victory early Wednesday morning.
She was able to do what few others have been able to: help control Trump’s worst impulses — not by chiding him or lecturing, but by earning his respect and showing him that he was better off when he followed her advice than flouted it.
”Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again,” Trump said in a statement. “It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.”
Trump went through four chiefs of staff — including one who served in an acting capacity for a year — during his first administration, part of record-setting personnel churn in his administration.
Successful chiefs of staff serves as the president’s confidant, help execute a president’s agenda and balance competing political and policy priorities. They also tend to serve as a gatekeeper, helping determine whom the president spends their time and whom they speak to — an effort Trump chafed under inside the White House.
The chief of staff is ”absolutely critical to an effective White House,” said Chris Whipple, whose book ”The Gatekeepers” details how the White House chief of staff role shaped and defines a presidency. ”At the end of the day the most important thing is telling the president what he doesn’t want to hear.”
Wiles is a longtime Florida-based Republican strategist who ran Trump’s campaign in the state in 2016 and 2020. Before that, she ran Rick Scott’s 2010 campaign for Florida governor and briefly served as the manager of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s 2012 presidential campaign.
