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Board of Regents’ homes vandalized

Members of the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents had their homes vandalized Wednesday in protest of the University’s sale of UMore Park for the development of a hypersonic missile test facility with engineering company North Wind.

Unidentified vandals targeted several board members across the state, leaving spray-painted messages on walkways saying, “NO MISSILES”.

While members of activist group UWar Park, made up of Educators for Justice in Palestine, Students for a Democratic Society and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, say they are aware of the vandalism, they deny any involvement. Members say they have been in contact with affected regents and spoken with them about the vandals’ actions.

According to UWar Park, regents told them that along with the spray-painted messages, they were left letters urging them to vote against the University’s budget proposal for the site. Letters claimed the development of the testing site could damage public health and local wildlife, as well as further the University’s investments in engineering and defense companies that profit from war efforts.

At the Board of Regents meeting Thursday, University president Rebecca Cunnigham said the University condemns the vandalism and any acts of violence.

“Together, we must ensure free expression and protest do not jeopardize others’ sense of safety, well-being and their rights,” Cunningham said. “There is absolutely no place for threatening behavior or destruction of property within our community. These actions endanger safety, erode the fabric of our University community, and undermine the legitimacy of important causes that our students, faculty and staff care so deeply about.”

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Board of Regents’ homes vandalized

Members of the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents had their homes vandalized Wednesday in protest of the University’s sale of UMore Park for the development of a hypersonic missile test facility with engineering company North Wind.

Unidentified vandals targeted several board members across the state, leaving spray-painted messages on walkways saying, “NO MISSILES”.

While members of activist group UWar Park, made up of Educators for Justice in Palestine, Students for a Democratic Society and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, say they are aware of the vandalism, they deny any involvement. Members say they have been in contact with affected regents and spoken with them about the vandals’ actions.

According to UWar Park, regents told them that along with the spray-painted messages, they were left letters urging them to vote against the University’s budget proposal for the site. Letters claimed the development of the testing site could damage public health and local wildlife, as well as further the University’s investments in engineering and defense companies that profit from war efforts.

At the Board of Regents meeting Thursday, University president Rebecca Cunnigham said the University condemns the vandalism and any acts of violence.

“Together, we must ensure free expression and protest do not jeopardize others’ sense of safety, well-being and their rights,” Cunningham said. “There is absolutely no place for threatening behavior or destruction of property within our community. These actions endanger safety, erode the fabric of our University community, and undermine the legitimacy of important causes that our students, faculty and staff care so deeply about.”

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Minneapolis community reacts to DOJ investigation, MDHR agreement

Following the end of a federal investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and court approval for reforms on Thursday, community members expressed mixed reactions to proposed changes activists said would not have been possible without them.

The  U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials concluded their investigation and found MPD engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing, including using excessive force and discriminating against Black and indigenous people. During the June 16 press conference, the city of Minneapolis agreed to negotiate a consent decree with the Justice Department to reform its police. 

The consent decree will be a court enforceable, independently monitored agreement that will be negotiated between Minneapolis and the Justice Department that will be finalized in the coming months, according to DOJ officials. This agreement comes after Minneapolis approved a separate consent decree with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) for its findings of police misconduct in March. 

A state judge agreed to a court-enforceable agreement between the MDHR and MPD Thursday, the result of an investigation that started in 2020. The groups had been officially negotiating the decree since March, officially filing the case in state court to negotiate a consent decree. MDHR’s investigation found discrimination and inappropriate use-of-force tactics against Black individuals in Minneapolis.

“The fingerprints of members of the community are all over this report, which I think is excellent,” said Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB) founder Michelle Gross, referring to the DOJ investigation. “Overall, we’re pleased with this report because it’s factual.”

A press conference after the DOJ announcement  –– hosted by several local activist groups, including CUAPB, Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar and Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence –– had mixed reactions from the participating organizations.

Gross added that while the report acknowledged many of the community’s concerns, she was disappointed to not see any mention of MPD’s treatment of unhoused people and encampments in the city. 

Community fingerprints

For the past two years, CUAPB collected stories from Minneapolis residents on their interactions with MPD using canvassers doing anything from going door-to-door to speaking with people in liquor store parking lots, Gross said. 

CUAPB submitted more than 2,300 written testimonies to the DOJ and MDHR to help assist their investigations. Additionally, the organization held two dozen events and panels to make recommendations on reforms the community wanted to see in the consent decree, including changes to MPD’s mental health crisis response and use of force policies. 

The organization’s work with the Justice Department has been centered around translating community needs into tangible policies to be included in the city’s consent decrees, Gross said. 

“People have a lot of ideas about what they want, but they don’t necessarily know how to turn those into reality,” Gross said. 

Toshira Garraway Allen is the founder of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, a support group for those affected by police misconduct. According to Garraway Allen, residents’ demands for reform are the result of their stories finally being heard after years of abuse from MPD. 

“There’s a separation because people kind of live in their own little bubble, and if you’ve never experienced something, it’s hard to see it from a person that has,” Garraway Allen said. “This treatment is being shown  through people’s voices of speaking out and coming forward.”

During the DOJ’s announcement of findings, Attorney General Merrick Garland listed several incidents of MPD misconduct, including an officer telling Somali teens he was proud of operation Black Hawk Down and an officer pushing a journalist’s head into pavement during a protest.

Despite the audible gasps at Garland’s announcement, Garraway Allen said nothing in the DOJ’s report was not a shock to anyone looking through the findings. 

Although it is “a slap in the face” for the federal government to be needed for change, Garraway Allen said the agreements are a first acknowledgment for a community that continues to face retaliation from its police. 

“We don’t think that a piece of paper or some rules can change people’s hearts and change people’s minds,” Garraway Allen said. 

Gross added while the community has worked well to inform the DOJ, many do not trust Minneapolis to include residents in its reform negotiations with the state and federal government.

“The city wants to negotiate with the MDHR and the DOJ and leave the community in the dust. Absolutely flippin’ not,” Gross said. “We’re going to make sure that the community’s desires and demands are going to be a part of this thing.”

One of the community’s main concerns, according to Gross, is the applicants for the independent monitors to enforce the city’s two reform agreements who are selected by Minneapolis and MDHR. 

Independent monitors will be paid $1.5 million annually and are responsible for ensuring the city’s compliance with its agreements, according to a city data request. Applicants for the city’s consent decree with MDHR currently include several law firms and a research organization that contracts for the military.

It will be the community’s responsibility to hold monitors accountable, according to Gross. However, CUAPB remains concerned the current applicant pool will not adequately ensure either agreement is fulfilled and is advocating for the state and federal agreements to have separate monitors.

“A lot of them are people that have long-standing relationships with the city, and we think there’s something too cozy,” Gross said. “The list is just inadequate, it’s a really poor list.”

The MDHR and MPD consent decree was approved despite community concerns.. The agreement lists several requirements for Minneapolis and MPD, including:

  • Require officers to de-escalate;
  • Prohibit officers from using force to punish or retaliate;
  • Prohibit the use of certain pretext stops;
  • Limit use of force and how officers can use chemical irritants or tasers;
  • Ban searches based on alleged smells of cannabis; and
  • Ban “excited delirium” training.

“The agreement captures the scope of the necessary work ahead to address race-based policing, a plague on our city that harms everyone, especially people of color and Indigenous community members,” said MDHR Commissioner Rebecca Lucero, according to a press release. 

However, the team of independent evaluators will monitor the city’s compliance with both its federal and state reform agreements. 

During the hearing, Lucero said the monitoring team will work alongside both Minneapolis and the community to ensure the city’s commitment to police reform is fulfilled. 

“We designed the scope of the responsibilities of the monitoring team with the hopes of really setting the city up for success,” Lucero said during the hearing, according to a press release. 

Reactions to the agreements

Others were less optimistic about the city’s promised reforms. Nekima Levy Armstrong, city attorney and a former president of the Minneapolis NAACP, called the report a long overdue intervention for a city that has historically worked to dodge accountability for its misconduct.

“They failed to correct the injustices and the abuses and the policy violations that have been going on for years,” Levy Armstrong said. “To see elected officials and those who have been appointed on television today saying now they’re going to do what they need to do, is a slap in the face.”

The Justice Department and city leaders are expecting trust from communities where little exists, Levy Armstrong said. These communities’ continued victimization by MPD, as well as the city’s continued failure to reform its police, poses a barrier.

“We call upon the Justice Department to not just work with the city of Minneapolis as it enters this negotiation, but to make good on what it said today, which is that they want the involvement of the community,” Levy Armstrong said after the DOJ announcement. “That means working in solidarity with us to continue to apply pressure to those in power.”

Many who responded at the event questioned why the federal government was necessary for Minneapolis to spark change.

“There are plenty of Black people up here and Indigenous people that have known things have had to change their whole lives,” said Toussaint Morrison,  a community member and activist. “We don’t need to see a public lynching to know that things have to change.”

However, city leaders are not alone in their culpability for MPD’s years of misconduct, according to Morrison. The DOJ’s findings about MPD are only a surprise to the white communities who have chosen to passively ignore and subsequently enable the MPD to continue its misconduct, Morrison said. 

“The issue is the collective silence of white communities in Minnesota that have failed to talk about this,” Morrison said. “This is why it keeps happening. Why does it take the DOJ pulling up with a consent decree for people to say something?”

Now that a consent decree exists in principle, it is still uncertain what will be negotiated between the DOJ and the city, or when the agreement will be finalized. DOJ officials said the process could take months, or up to a year. This decree is still separate from the one decided Friday with MDHR.

In the meantime, many activists expressed concern over what the future of reform will look like for MPD. 

Chauntyll Allen of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities said while it is beneficial to have documented acknowledgment of the traumas MPD has caused its community, it is the city’s responsibility to proactively work to heal decades of wounds. 

“I’m asking that we see some real clear action from MPD,” Allen said. “Be the department that says, ‘Hey, we are actually going to liberate our Black communities. We are going to protect and serve our Black communities. We are going to do what’s right.’ Because for 400 years, the right thing just hasn’t been done.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

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1 found dead in Appleby Hall

University of Minnesota Facilities staff found a deceased person in a room of Appleby Hall Tuesday morning.

There is no foul play suspected, according to a statement Tuesday from University Public Relations Director Jake Ricker.

The person’s identity has not been publicly released yet, but Ricker said they are not a member of the Twin Cities campus community.

Appleby Hall, which is located off of Pleasant Street on the East Bank campus, is one of many University buildings designated for public use, so the building is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. A U card is required to access the building outside of these public hours.

Some parents called for increased security Tuesday, according to reporting from Kare11.

“People that have no business being in those buildings, have no business being in those buildings. Period,” Erin Brumm, a parent and Campus Safety Coalition board member, said to Kare11.

The staff member who found the person reported it to the University of Minnesota Police Department, and the body was turned over to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office to determine the cause of death, Ricker said.

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Hamline University president to retire

Fayneese S. Miller, president of Hamline University, announced Monday she will retire in June 2024 following public criticism for dismissing an adjunct instructor

The instructor, Erika López Prater, taught an Islamic arts class in fall 2022. A student complained about López Prater to Hamline’s administration after she showed a 14th-century depiction of the Prophet Muhammed during a class.

Many Muslims believe showing depictions of the prophet is prohibited.  

López Prater said she issued a warning about the image in both the course syllabus and at the beginning of that class session. She said she decided  to show the image because the painting is commonly shown in art history classes and told students they could leave class if they felt uncomfortable. 

López Prater filed a lawsuit against Hamline in January for religious discrimination and defamation. 

The dismissal sparked a national debate on academic freedom and the professors’ right to choose how and what they teach. 

A majority of Hamline’s full-time faculty voted to request Miller’s resignation in January

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a national organization for Muslim civil liberties and advocacy, supported Hamline’s decision to dismiss López Prater. CAIR’s national organization did not support the university’s decision. 

CAIR-MN issued a statement on Monday condemning Miller’s retirement. 

“Dr. Miller has demonstrated outstanding leadership over the past 8 years, with a strong focus on academic program development and diversity,” CAIR-MN’s Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said in the statement. “We believe that her support for Muslim students and her stance against Islamophobia ultimately cost her job.”

At a press conference Monday afternoon, Miller said she was not forced to resign from her position as president. 

“I got beat up in the media, and so you know, at some point, you have to look at that and go ‘is this right for the institution,’” she said.

Miller also said reporters put forth a “false narrative” about the controversy, saying “no one was let go for showing an image.” She said she is unable to tell what she sees as the full story because of the ongoing lawsuit. 

In their initial announcement following the dismissal of López Prater, Hamline administration said “respect for the observant Muslim students in that classroom should have superseded academic freedom.” 

Hamline later issued a statement on Jan. 17 contradicting this and reiterating support for academic freedom. 

“It was never our intent to suggest that academic freedom is of lower concern or value than our students — care does not ‘supersede’ academic freedom, the two coexist,” the statement read.

During Monday’s press conference, Miller reflected on her achievements since becoming Hamline’s president in 2015, such as continuing operations during the COVID-19 shutdown and increasing salaries for full professors. She was the first Black and second female president in the university’s history.

“What I leave behind I’m very proud of because I know that this institution will continue to do well and continue to thrive,” Miller said. “When I leave Hamline University, I leave my heart, and it’s one of the more difficult decisions I’ve ever made.” 

With Miller’s impending departure, Hamline will conduct a national search for the university’s next president. 

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DFL retains all seats

The election’s main issues were varied, with abortion being a focus after the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, public safety amid a 20.3% increase in violent crime in Hennepin County since 2021 and rising prices of household goods because of inflation.

Statewide offices

Governor

Incumbent Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) beat Scott Jensen with 52.27% of the vote and about 100% of precincts reporting. The race tightened after Jensen changed his public position on abortion following this year’s State Fair.

Walz ran his reelection campaign focused on building “One Minnesota,” as well as helping the economy, investing in the state and protecting abortion access. Jensen ran on curbing crime and enhancing public safety, stunting inflation’s impacts in Minnesota and the governor’s emergency powers.

“Well Minnesota, democracy is alive and well in this state,” Walz said. “Minnesotans made a conscious decision tonight to choose a positive future, to choose one where our better days lie ahead.”

Walz served in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected as governor in 2018 and was a teacher before entering politics. Jensen was a family medical doctor before he ran for Minnesota State Senate in 2016; he retired after four years in the legislature to run for governor.

Jensen conceded the governor’s race at the Minnesota GOP election party Tuesday night. (Alex Steil)

“Republicans, quite frankly, we didn’t have a red wave,” Jensen said during his concession speech early Wednesday morning. “We need to recalibrate. We need to ask ourselves, ‘okay, what can we learn from this? What can we do better? How do we go forward?”

Secretary of State

Incumbent Sec. of State Steven Simon (DFL) won against GOP challenger Kim Crockett with 54.53% percent of the vote. Crockett ran her campaign on false claims the 2020 election was fraudulent, though this has been debunked by numerous news outlets and investigations.

Simon was a lawyer-turned-legislator before running to be Minnesota’s election director in 2018. Crockett worked for a conservative Minnesota interest group before running for the position in 2022.

“If we’re going to bring election integrity, we need to calm down the divisiveness around elections in Minnesota and our nation,” Crockett said in her concession speech. “From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.”

Attorney General

Incumbent Attorney General Keith Ellison (DFL) defeated challenger Jim Schlutz (R) in one of the tightest statewide races of this year by less than 1 percentage point. Minnesota has not had a Republican attorney general since 1971.

“We have been counting these numbers all night and I want to tell you this: they’re almost all counted, and we’re going to win,” Ellison said at the Minnesota DFL election party.

Ellison was criticized throughout the campaign for comments that would have altered the construction of the Minneapolis Police Department, other comments about police during the riots following George Floyd’s murder as well as the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal. Schultz, in turn, was criticized by the Ellison campaign for his lack of courtroom enforcement experience.

Feeding Our Future was also used as political fodder. The scandal arose in September after the Department of Justice brought charges against the organization, saying it accepted nearly $250 million in fraudulent funds. A judge in Ramsey County published a press release stating, even after the Department of Education stopped payments and had internally flagged the organization, the administration continued to make payments to the group.

Ellison was a lawyer before he was elected to both the Minnesota and U.S. House of Representatives. Schultz, in contrast, had a more varied background working on a farm and in the Department of Defense before settling in Minnesota as an attorney.

State Auditor

The last state executive office is the State Auditor; they are the financial watchdog for the state.

Incumbent Auditor Julie Blaha (DFL) beat Ryan Wilson (R) by less than one percentage point in the closest state race this year. Blaha was criticized by Wilson for not catching the Feeding our Future fraud scheme earlier, although she has responded that was beyond the scope of her office.

Before being elected in 2018 as the state auditor, Blaha was a teacher and secretary-treasurer at the AFL-CIO labor union. Wilson, in turn, founded his own international auditing firm and was a manager at a medical devices company; this is his first endeavor into politics.

State Legislature

State Rep. Mohamud Noor (DFL) ran unopposed and will serve his third term in the Minnesota House of Representatives for District 60B. Before serving in the House, Noor ran for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 6 in 2017, but was defeated by former Council Member Abdi Warsame.

State Sen. Kari Dziedzic was reelected to serve a fifth term in the Minnesota State Senate after running unopposed. Dziedzic was first elected during a special election in 2012.

County Elections

Mary Moriarty was announced the winner of the race for Hennepin County Attorney with 57.59% of the vote, while Martha Holton Dimick is polling behind with 41.82%. One hundred percent of precincts in Hennepin County are reporting.

Dawanna Witt won the country sheriff’s race with 63.99% of the vote. Joseph Banks held 35.37% with 100% of precincts reporting.

Federal Offices

House of Representatives

Incumbent Rep. Ilhan Omar (DFL) defeated Cicely Davis (R) with about 74% of the vote and 100% of precincts reporting. She will continue to represent District 5 for the next two years, which has not elected a Republican to the House since 1963.

Ilhan Omar declared victory Tuesday night. This will be her third term as the 5th District representative. (Maya Marchel Hoff)

Omar spoke in both English and Somali at her election party Tuesday evening, where there was a crowd of about 60 people singing and dancing in celebration.

“I want to thank the incredible voters of Minnesota’s congressional district many years ago when I won with the highest number of votes a freshman has ever gotten. Tonight our numbers are better than 2020,” Omar said. “And that shows…that the people here know who their champion is and who they’re going to send back to Washington.”

At a Minnesota GOP party, Davis made a concession speech, emphasizing how many donations her campaign received. She said she received nearly 90,000 donations throughout the campaign.

“Should we leave the biggest American hating, socialist, squad member unopposed? Absolutely not. We fight in Minnesota,” Davis said. “This is a grassroots effort.”

Overall, Minnesota congressional districts stayed the same with a 4/4 split between Democrats and Republicans.

*These polling results are unofficial and were reported on the Secretary of State’s website. This story will be updated as election results come in*

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UMN students turn out to vote in midterms

Once again, University of Minnesota students showed up at the polls to cast their ballot on Tuesday for the 2022 midterm elections. 

The University has a history of record high voter turnout, with about 8 out of every 10 students voting in the 2020 election. 

While the 2020 election was a Presidential Election, which usually sees more ballots cast, the 2022 midterms in Minnesota have been making headlines this year with contentious and highly polarized races for governor, secretary of state, attorney general and a few congressional districts. 

The incumbents for big name races – governor, secretary of state, attorney general and state auditor – are all DFL. 

Student voters say they chose to vote this year because they feel it is their civic duty. Hot-button topics this year are abortion access, public safety, economic issues and election result viability following the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

Luka Alexenko is a 20-year-old University student who voted Tuesday at the Weisman Art Museum.

“It’s gotten very scary being, just being a young person in this country and specifically a young, queer person,” Alexenko said. “I’m voting to protect myself and those I love from people and institutions that explicitly seek to do us harm.”

Alexenko said they are feeling optimistic now about election results, however, it is likely too early to tell.

Minnesota is historically thought of as a blue state, however, with issues like public safety, inflation and fraud, some races – like attorney general and state auditor – have a higher likelihood of going red. 

“I’m a little nervous just because I feel like with every election, things happen that aren’t always expected, especially right now,” Lynn Reynolds, 19 and who voted for Ilhan Omar, said. 

Since June, the democrats have been banking on voters turning out to protect reproductive rights. Students voting at Weisman were split on the issue. 

“For governor, I voted for Scott Jensen … just because I like his views on abortion,” Oz Sastra, 19, said.

Throughout the campaign season, Jensen has switched his public stance on abortion, initially stating he wanted to ban abortion but later saying there is nothing he would be able to do as governor to ban abortion. While the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in June, leading to abortion bans and restrictions in several states, abortion remains protected in Minnesota under the state case Doe v. Gomez

Gov. Tim Walz issued an executive order in June stating he would protect reproductive rights in Minnesota. 

Mathea Bruns, 18, said she voted for Walz because of his stance on abortion rights. 

“I think there’s a lot of human rights associated with this election,” Bruns said. “Just regarding like abortion rights, there’s a lot at stake.” 

Some students said another big issue for them is LGBTQ rights. 

“I would like to increase the rights for those people and make sure they’re treated fairly,” Jace Shores said. 

Public safety has been another big topic since 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd, but some students were split on how important it was in this year’s election. 

Alec Dusheck said public safety was not a big concern for him during this election, but other students said it did play a role in why they turned out to vote. 

“Public safety factors in my voting today in terms of police reform if anything, now that we have the opportunity to elect the first Black sheriff in Minneapolis,” Andres Pricer said. “Hopefully things can progress in the right direction.” 

While students generally said they turned out to vote because it is a civic duty and it is important to use your voice to choose your representatives, some students went out to vote because of “harm reduction.” 

“I saw the other day online someone said that voting is just a form of harm reduction,” Corma Bartlett said. “I really liked that because I don’t really like any of the people that I just voted for, but [they’re] the best of all evils.”

 

This story will continue to be updated until polls close at 8 p.m.

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BREAKING: Bomb threat causes Coffman to evacuate

UPDATE: The University of Minnesota Police Department responded to a “suspicious person” in Coffman Union and then became aware of the threat. Officers detained the person and cleared the area until UMPD determined it was safe to reenter the building.


The University of Minnesota confirmed through a SAFE-U notification there was a bomb threat at Coffman Union on Wednesday around 5 p.m. The building was evacuated while University police taped off entrances and helicopters flew overhead.

A crowd of students and staff waited outside of the building for updates. At one point, an officer with a K-9 inspected area. Washington Avenue’s Caribou Coffee also closed early but appeared to be the only business doing so.

As of 7 p.m. the University issued the all-clear and opened Coffman Union and the surrounding areas. There have not been any updates as to who sent in the threat or motive. 

Earlier in the day there were reports around the state of “swatting,” or prank calls to attract police to an area, at more than a dozen school districts. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension confirmed 14 cases of swatting as of Wednesday afternoon.  

This is a breaking news report and will be updated as more details emerge.

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BREAKING: UMN partners with state patrol on campus safety

Gov. Tim Walz and University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel announced at a press conference on Wednesday a new public safety partnership between the Minnesota State Patrol and the University. 

The state patrol will be patrolling areas around the University campus as students start to come back to campus for the fall semester. 

“Troopers will be visible in their squad cars this week to enhance the work being done by the U of M campus police and the Minneapolis Police Department,” Colonel Matt Langer, chief of the Minnesota State Patrol, said at the press conference. 

Walz said collaborative partnerships like this one will help provide a good education experience for University students. 

“As students head back to campus, we want them to focus on having fun and getting the best possible education, not concern for their personal safety,” Walz said at the press conference. 

In addition to the partnership, the University is hiring more community safety officers, expanding the Gopher Chauffeur service and implementing additional street lights and cameras, Gabel said at the press conference. 

University of Minnesota Police Department Chief Matt Clark also emphasized the importance of safety education for students and said they should pay attention to their surroundings and look out for each other.

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Primary results are in

This story will be updated throughout the night as votes come in. 

Minnesota Primary results trickled in throughout Tuesday evening, with some elections already being called while others still wait on results.

Fifth Congressional District

Rep. Ilhan Omar narrowly defeated former Minneapolis City Council Member Don Samuels for 5th Congressional District representative. Omar received about 50% of the votes and Samuels received about 48%. Omar has been the district’s representative since 2019. 

"Tonight's victory is a testament to how much our district believes in the collective values we are fighting for and how much they're willing to do to help us overcome defeat," Omar said in a statement Tuesday night after her win. "This win is for them and everyone who still believes that hate, division and regression will not be the legacy of the Fifth."

Omar said at a media event in Dinkytown Tuesday night that she and her team are “excited” and thanked her supporters and constituents who voted for her. 

“We’re honored and humbled that they come out and put their trust in us and that they continue to defend our progressive values,” Omar said. 

At an election party held by Samuels on Tuesday night, Samuels and his campaign staff said they were feeling optimistic about the outcome of the race. 

“From what we can see we’re doing much, much better than the last challenger did on the individual precinct level,” Joe Randinovich, campaign manager for Samuels, said. 

At an election party Tuesday night, Samuels addressed the crowd to concede his loss, saying he was proud to “have come so close” taking on a “goliath” of a force.

“This was supposed to be unwinnable,” Samuels said. “Much of the challenge we had getting early support was that nobody thought that we could win.” 

Cicely Davis, GOP frontrunner for the Fifth District, won the Republican primary with about 48% of the votes. The runner-up, Royce White, won about 37% of the votes.  

Omar will now run against Davis in the midterm election on Nov. 8. Minnesota’s 5th District has not had a republican representative since the ‘60s. 

Governor and Lieutenant Governor  

In the DFL primary, incumbent Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan ran against Ole Savior and Julia Parker. Walz and Flanagan won with about 96% of the votes. 

Walz sent out a press release after he was declared the DFL nominee. Reproductive freedom, paid family leave, funding for education, voting rights and protections for LGBTQ+ youth are all platforms that Walz will be running on in November’s election.

I couldn't be more proud of the strides we made working through the unprecedented challenges of the past three years. But Minnesotans know better than to let up before the job is done,” Walz wrote in the press release. “As we head into the general election tomorrow, the real work starts.”

Scott Jensen and Matt Birk were the frontrunners for the GOP primary and won with about 89% of the votes. They went up against Joyce Lynn Lacey and Kent Edwards as well as Bob “Again” Carney Jr. and Captain Jack Sparrow. 

Jensen and Birk have made headlines recently about their opposition to abortion rights, especially after Birk’s comments about abortion and women at a National Right to Life conference in Georgia in June

Walz released a statement in June saying abortion will remain legal in Minnesota under his leadership. Voters near the University of Minnesota said on Tuesday that protecting reproductive rights is one of their top issues

Walz and Flanagan will run against Jensen and Birk in the November election. The two pairs will also run against James McCaskel and David Sandbeck from the Legal Marijuana Now Party as well as Steve Patterson and Matt Huff from the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party. 

Secretary of State 

Steven Simon, the incumbent and DFL candidate, won his side of the primary with about 73% of the votes. Simon went up against Steve Carlson for the DFL candidacy. 

In the GOP primary, Kim Crockett won against Erik van Mechelen. Crocket has won about 63% of the votes and will go up against Simon in November. 

Attorney General 

The incumbent for attorney general was Keith Ellison, who won the DFL primary with about 89% of the votes so far. Ellison ran against Bill Dahn. 

Jim Schultz won the GOP primary for attorney general with about 53% of the votes, running against Doug Wardlow and Sharon Anderson.

Ellison and Schultz will be running against each other on the November ballot. 

County Sheriff 

There were three candidates in the nonpartisan Hennepin County sheriff race. David Hutchinson, the county’s sheriff did not run for reelection after announcing a leave of absence in May. Hutchinson crashed his county-owned SUV in December while his blood-alcohol level was 0.13%.

Dawanna Witt won the county sheriff primary with about 57% of the votes. Witt ran against Joseph Banks and Jai Hanson and will run against Joseph Banks, who won about 22% of the votes, again in the November election for the county sheriff seat. 

County Attorney 

There were seven candidates running for the nonpartisan Hennepin County Attorney race. Mary Moriarty won the race with about 36% of the votes. Moriarty will go up against Martha Holton Dimick, who won about 18% of the votes, again in the November election. 

Special election in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District 

Along with the primary election, Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, which includes Rochester and other cities in southern Minnesota, had a special election for the district’s U.S. representative. The district’s previous representative, Jim Hagedorn (GOP), died in February after battling kidney cancer. 

Brad Finstad won the special election with about 51% of the vote. Finstad went up against Jeff Ettinger (DFL), Richard Reisdorf (Legalize Marijuana Now) and Haroun McClellan (Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis) and will be the district’s U.S. representative for the next five months. 

Ettinger won the district’s DFL primary with about 64% of the vote. He will run against Finstad in the November election to be the district’s representative. Finstad narrowly won the district’s GOP primary with about 38% of the votes, winning against.

Ettinger and Finstad will also run against Richard B. Residorf from the Legalize Marijuana Now Party and Brian Abrahamson from the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party in November.

 

Bella Carpentier, Maia Irvin, Olivia Stevens and Hanna van den Einde contributed to this report. 

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