Free Republic

Donald Trump's 2024 reelection campaign continues to open up the map and is moving further into what the Biden campaign probably considers safe territory. That's an old strategy in any kind of conflict: Make your opponent react to you instead of reacting to them; always keep the initiative and, wherever possible, take the fight to them on their ground. The Biden campaign's home ground in question includes the states of Virginia and Minnesota, where the Trump people are opening up new campaign offices. The Trump campaign is expanding its ground game in Minnesota and Virginia as it puts President Biden's...

In Minnesota, 50% of students cannot read at grade level. If we were to apply the traditional academic grading scale to that outcome, the public education system in the state would get a solid F.. That abysmal performance was the topic of much debate during this term of the Minnesota legislature, prompting the Democrat trifecta to pass “the READ Act,” an effort to replace the failed “whole language” method of literacy training with traditional phonics education. “Whole language” is an absolute joke, recognized even by many on the Left as a toxic methodology that fails students. In essence, “whole language”...

Polling outfit Decision Desk HQ released some stunning numbers Friday, showing Donald Trump ever so slightly ahead in two blue states that went for Biden in the last election, which could spell doom for the president’s reelection if they turn on him in November. The survey showed Trump up an ever-so-teeny 0.2 percent in Virginia and an absolutely eye-opening 1.6 percent in Minnesota. The Gopher State's numbers are not stunning because the former president is so far ahead—1.6 percent is a small margin—but because he's even close in a state that Biden won by seven last time around. It’s got...

St. Cloud State University finalizes plan to cut back on degrees, minors amidst budget problems Nearly one in three degree programs at St. Cloud State University will get the ax, due to budgetary problems. Roughly 60 percent of minors are also getting the boot at the public university, according to a recent announcement. “In a presentation to the campus community on Tuesday, SCSU Acting President Larry Lee confirmed the university will suspend 42 degree programs and 50 minor programs,” KARE 11 reported yesterday. The news outlet reported that other cuts were made last year as well. “The reductions will leave...

Former President Donald Trump is within striking distance of President Joe Biden in blue Minnesota, according to a poll taken after his conviction in the Manhattan business records trial. The Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 poll, published Monday, finds that Biden leads with 45 percent of support among likely voters in a three-way race with Trump and independent Robert Kennedy Jr. Trump garners 41 percent of the response, followed by Kennedy Jr. at 6 percent. Biden’s edge on Trump falls just outside the ± 3.5 percentage point margin of error. New: President Joe Biden holds a 45-41% lead over former President...

ISLE ROYALE, Mich. (WLUC) - A lake freighter with 22 people on board experienced a water emergency on Lake Superior Saturday morning. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the M/V MICHIPICOTEN, a vessel carrying taconite, allided or struck something underwater and began taking on water Saturday morning.

They blocked a staunchly conservative congresswoman from winning the Minnesota GOP's endorsement and propelled a former NBA player with a controversial past to a surprising endorsement victory. And at last month's state GOP convention, anti-establishment conservatives ordered party leaders to write a letter of support for people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The anti-establishment wing of Minnesota's Republican Party has notched a string of notable victories recently, to the dismay of traditional conservatives who worry the so-called "grassroots" activists are undermining the GOP's chances of winning in November. The defiant activists have...

"The Emmer lackeys were so afraid of Chris that they wouldn’t even let him speak! They did this despite Chris meeting EVERY deadline and requirement set forth by the CD6 Constitution and Convention Rules. It was not until the night before the Convention that the scam Nominations Committee informed Chris that he was found to be “Unqualified”. Before the Convention, Chris told the CD6 leadership that he would abide by the Endorsement if the process was fair."

June 4 (Reuters) - A Texas prosecutor asked the state's highest criminal court on Tuesday to reverse a pardon granted by Governor Gregg Abbott to a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder and sentenced to prison for fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester. Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, a Democrat whose office tried the murder case, said he asked the state Court of Criminal Appeals for a special order, called a writ of mandamus, to overturn Abbott's action. Garza told a news briefing in the state capital of Austin that Abbott, a Republican, violated the separation of...

(The Center Square) – Any Minnesota voter can now sign up for a permanent absentee ballot. As of June 1, Minnesota joined eight other states and Washington, D.C. to allow all voters, irrespective of disability status or age, to register online to permanently vote absentee. This will allow voting as early as 46 days before an election. To leave the permanent absentee list, the voter must send a written request to their county elections office. Absentee ballots will no longer be sent to the voter’s address if it’s returned as undeliverable, the voter is pronounced dead by the county or...

A juror in a Minneapolis trial related to $250 million in stolen pandemic aid reported that she had a sack with $120,000 in cash delivered to her door — and a note promising more if she voted to acquit. The bribe was delivered to the juror’s home in on Sunday evening — just hours before the jury was due back in court to hear the final closing arguments in the trial. Juror 52, a 23-year-old woman, was not home when the bag was dropped off but immediately notified police after family at the house showed it to her. “This is...

Law enforcement sources tell FOX 9 that one Minneapolis police officer has died after a gunman opened fire in a neighborhood south of downtown. In total, FOX 9 is told six people were shot during the incident: two officers and four citizens. Minneapolis police have confirmed two officers and at least four civilians were injured in the situation but nothing further at this point. Police have swarmed the area of Blaisdell Avenue and 22nd Avenue for the shooting. As of 7:30 p.m., things seemed to have calmed down some.

Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that on abortion access, Minnesota is an “island of decency” surrounded by states enacting versions of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Anchor Dana Bash said, “On the issue of abortion, Mrs. Clinton said Democrats neglected abortion rights from the ballot box to Congress, to the Supreme Court. Our side was complacent and kind of taking it for granted and thinking it would never go away. Do you agree with that?” Walz said, “I don’t think she’s totally wrong. Look, I ran in a conservative district, second Democrat since 1892 when...

The Minnesota Senate on Friday approved a package of partisan changes to landlord-tenant law that are poised to make housing more expensive for renters and create significant burdens for landlords. The landlord-tenant conference report is the product of an agreement between Democrat House and Senate negotiators on SF 3492, the landlord-tenant bill the Senate passed by an overwhelmingly partisan vote in April. Sen. Eric Lucero (R-St. Michael), the lead Republican on the Senate’s Housing and Homelessness Prevention Committee, issued the following statement sharply criticizing the misplaced priorities in the bill: “The cost of housing in Minnesota is dramatically more expensive...

Former President Donald Trump is appearing in blue Minnesota on Friday, delivering the keynote address at the Minnesota Republican Party’s Lincoln Reagan Dinner as all eyes are on traditionally blue strongholds that the former president hopes to flip in November. Trump has a busy day on Friday and is headed to Minnesota after attending his youngest son Barron Trump’s high school graduation in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier in the day. In early May, the Republican Party of Minnesota announced Trump as the headliner for the 2024 Lincoln Reagan Dinner. At the time, Minnesota Trump Campaign Chair and House Majority Whip...

In a solemn, pre-dawn ceremony, the flag that's been flying over Minnesota's State Capitol for decades was lowered for the last time. Voices hushed in a crowd of more than a dozen onlookers at 5 a.m. on Saturday as the flag with Civil War-era imagery was carefully carried from the darkened Capitol rooftop to the building's front steps, where two National Guard members folded it into a tri-cornered shape and presented it to the state's Historical Society for preservation. As the sun rose, a new official banner was hoisted on the same flagpole overlooking St. Paul, a stripped-down design featuring...

Cathy R., 63, has a master's degree and has worked all her life, though she's very worried for her future. The clerical worker in Minnesota has struggled to rise up the ranks throughout her career. She said she's earning a salary similar to some entry-level positions despite nearly three decades in her current role. She's nervous that even though she's eligible for a pension in a few years, it won't supplement Social Security payments nearly enough to live comfortably. "I can't afford life while working. How can I even think of retiring?" the St. Paul, Minnesota resident said. ...Cathy grew...

Like many states, pro-abortion legislators in Minnesota are working to make abortion until birth a constitutional right. Pro-life advocates are fighting back with an ad, and CBS Minnesota published an article claiming the ad was “misleading.” Yet the article then went on to affirm that the points made in the ad were, in fact, accurate. The ad was published by Minnesota Citizens Concerned For Life (MCCL), and said that the state has the most extreme pro-abortion laws in the country. “That claim is misleading,” CBS Minnesota said, before immediately admitting, “It is true that Minnesota has one of the most...

State leadership and delegation chairs from several Libertarian Party chapters, including those in Florida, California, Colorado, Tennessee, Minnesota, Vermont, Nebraska, and the District of Columbia, have extended an invitation to independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., urging him to seek the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. The letter, published on Friday by Libertarians for Kennedy and signed by various party leaders, including an alternative region representative on the Libertarian National Committee, urges Kennedy to seek the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, with the understanding that the undersigned would consider voting for him in the first round if he accepts. Notably, the...

Arecent discovery in Minnesota has unveiled a helium reservoir with astonishingly high concentrations of the gas, surpassing initial estimations and potentially opening doors for commercial extraction. Pulsar Helium, an exploration company, revealed the discovery of helium reserves in late February 2024, following drilling activities near Babbitt, northern Minnesota, reaching depths of 2,200 feet (670 meters). Initial findings displayed helium concentrations of 12.4%, described by Thomas Abraham-James, the president and CEO of Pulsar Helium, as “a dream” in an interview with CBS News.[1] The discovery represents an unprecedented opportunity to gain access to helium at concentration levels dramatically exceeding the normal...