Liberty & Prosperity Blog

Earlier today, I wrote this post . This afternoon, it's time to start Part II. This is ridiculous. According to this article , there's a ton of utter incompetence at DHS, if not outright corruption. For instance, KARE11 is quoting DHS Inspector General James Clark as saying "We’re seeing webs or rings of connected providers that are working together to commit fraud. I’ve also seen businesses committing fraud that have tentacles throughout the Medicaid program. We have a provider vetting problem. We need to make it much, much harder for fly-by-night, unqualified providers to gain access to our programs. " This state is utterly mismanaged. If this state was a company, it'd be bankrupt with its CEO either fired, in prison or both. What type of business manager says that "We need to make it much, much harder for fly-by-night, unqualified providers to gain access to our programs?" DHS needs a businessman to just get it operable again. I can't imagine how ...

It's apparent that Tim Walz is worried that he's on the wrong side of the Feeding Our Futures and Medicaid fraud issues. It's because, for the first time in his administration, he's paying attention to the issue . According to Gov. Walz's executive order, "We have no tolerance for fraud in the State of Minnesota. Abuse of taxpayer dollars takes resources away from the people who need them most. If you commit fraud in Minnesota, you will be prosecuted and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. While we will continue to urge the legislature to take further action, this executive order gives our agencies additional tools to safeguard taxpayer dollars." That's lovely sounding but it's 3-4 years late. Most of these programs got started at the start of COVID. Fraud started happening almost immediately. Joseph Thompson, the Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, thinks that half of payments sent out through the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS...

It isn't a secret that Tim Walz is running for a third straight term as Minnesota's governor. What's been a secret up until this tweet appeared is that Tim Walz's Deparment of Human Services is a hostile work environment. According to the tweet, "Tim Walz is utterly dishonest, malicious at heart & has dangerous intent. The 'folksy' public image Tim Walz portrays is not even remotely what he is like to work with. Despite repeated warnings about fraud, Tim Walz opted to ratchet up the retaliation and silence any ethical voices. Besides fraud, Tim Walz has allowed agencies to spend thousands, possibly millions on retaliation efforts to scare, threaten, and silence concerned employees." The tweet continues "Worst of all, despite unprecedented funds awarded or appropriated to DHS, our agency is now a hollow shell of incompetency as our programs have been destroyed & most ethical staff have left." Don't think that this much fraud happ...

Joy filled my heart when I read this article confirming the continuation of "Turning Point USA’s “American Comeback Tour." According to the article, "Conservative commentator Michael Knowles said his event next week at the University of Minnesota will go on as planned, despite the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk. Knowles will appear at Northrop Auditorium Monday night at 6:30 p.m." When Kirk was assassinated, the Far-Left celebrated because they thought that they'd stopped Charlie's movement. Thanks to Erika Kirk's inspirational speech last Friday, the violent Far-Left supplied the jet fuel for Charlie's movement. Since Kirk's assassination through the end of last weekend, TPUSA has received 40,000+ applications to start TPUSA local chapters, both on college campuses and at high schools. Just to compare, there were 900 high school chapters and 1,100 college chapters of TPUSA the day before Charlie Kirk's assassination. Erika Kirk: ...

ABC just announced that "Jimmy Kimmel is taking an involuntary hiatus." According to the article, "ABC has announced that it is pulling the comedian’s late-night talk show off the air 'indefinitely' following the host’s controversial comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk. Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,' an ABC spokesperson confirmed to The Post on Wednesday, Sept. 17." The article continues, saying "Kimmel, 57, faced backlash Monday night after he said that the 'MAGA gang' was trying to score political points off Kirk’s murder after the conservative activist was shot dead on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10. 'We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,' Kimmel said during his monologue." That's disgusting. The thing I won't do is make that type of incendiary sta...

Apparently, the left's newest talking point in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination is that Minnesota State Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman's assassination means that this is happening equally to both parties. This morning, Joe Scarborough tried the chanting point as Jessica Tarlov tried with Greg Gutfeld. Scarborough's argument simply doesn't work. According to the article, Scarborough is quoted as saying "I have been baffled over the past several days by people like Stephen Miller talking about this being a one-sided issue, when just a few months ago, the most powerful Democrat in the state of Minnesota was gunned down in her family’s home. The same people who are calling for civil war were the same people who said absolutely nothing when she was shot." There's just one problem with Joe's story. That problem is that it's fiction. Here in Minnesota, people grieved after Melissa Hortman's assassination. From there, Scarborough went off...

I'm still stunned at the wisdom exhibited by Cally Proctor in this op-ed . Ms. Proctor wrote "The young man who opened fire on a church filled with children wasn’t simply “evil in a vacuum.” He is the product of a culture that preys on pain and confusion. Instead of being lifted out of despair, people like him are too often encouraged to double down on it. Media, peers, parents, and broken systems feed lies into vulnerable hearts, and those lies bear fruit in hatred. Why are we not talking about this?" Robin Westman told us that he "hated being trans" and that he wishes he hadn't brainwashed himself into transitioning. Stories of detransitioning are far from rare, though I wish we didn't need to hear about children getting hoodwinked into these procedures. Further, I wish more parents saw parenting as their most important responsibility in this lifetime. Their job isn’t to be their kids’ friends. That’s their friends’ responsibility. This is Ms. Proctor...

When Tim Walz finally announced that he's running for a third straight term as governor, he flooded the airwaves with typical Tim Walz BS. I came across this tweet . At first, I thought it might've been from the Babylon Bee . Upon closer examination, though, it was just from Gov. Tim Walz. The tweet said "We’ve made historic progress in our state, but we’re not done yet. I’m staying in the fight — and I need you with me." First, the only thing that's been historic about Gov. Walz's second term was the historic surplus, the historic spending spree and the historic levels of fraud. I don't consider blowing the record surplus without a significant tax cut or a serious investment in public safety, aka police officers, making progress. I don't consider the historic federal prosecutions of Medicaid fraud a sign of progress. In fact, Minnesota is going backwards on fraud. Between the Feeding our Futures fraud and the Housing Stabilization Services Medicaid f...

It's finally official. Earlier this morning, Tim Walz announced that he's seeking a third term as governor. According to Gov. Walz, "We’ve made historic progress in our state, but we’re not done yet. I’m staying in the fight — and I need you with me." In his email announcement, Gov. Walz said "Over the past six years, we’ve worked together to make Minnesota America’s best place to raise a family. We’ve cut child poverty, expanded labor rights, invested in education, made sure every student gets free breakfast and lunch at school, and so much more." Spare me the propaganda, Gov. Walz. Your administration has done everything it could to keep parents in the dark on the parents' children, especially when it comes to 'gender identity' issues. Of course, that's tearing families apart but, hey, you've got to demolish a few families to make sure that "Minnesota [is] America’s best place to raise a family." Then there's this: We’re ...

Guns, which we've been told by the DFL are the cause of violence statewide, travelled to Minneapolis Monday. Crime Watch MN is reporting "At least 13 people were injured between two mass shootings in south Minneapolis Monday, just two miles and less than 12 hours apart, both at known trouble spots. The first mass shooting occurred after 11 a.m. Monday, near East Lake Street and 35W, near the Metro Transit tower and access to the Midtown Greenway." It isn't known what the guns' motive for the 11:00 am mass shooting were, though MPD Police Chief "Brian O’Hara said in a later media briefing" the shooting happened in a place "known for a concentration of drug activity, and that investigators received conflicting stories from the involved parties." Here's a suggestion. Why don't legislators, mayors and activists concentrate on preventing illicit "drug activity?" Sorry about that. I forgot that the people of Hennepin County elected...

The secret to the DFL's assault weapons ban campaign comes from a familiar place. It really helps to have the protection of the Twin Cities media from start-to-finish. I suspect that many 'journalists' even recognize the fact that they're even part of the DFL's propaganda ministry. the term gun violence is itself propaganda. Guns are inanimate objects. Guns can't travel, for instance, to Orem, UT, where Charlie Kirk was murdered by a lunatic because Kirk had the audacity to establish something affectionately known as the 'Prove Me Wrong Table.' We'll return to that later so hold that thought. This KSTP article opens by saying "A working group of Minnesota lawmakers met Monday to discuss possible gun reforms and safety measures ahead of a likely special session. The 11-person Gun Violence Prevention Working Group is made up of state senators from both parties and is chaired Sens. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, and Zaynab Mohamed, DFL-Minneapolis...

This morning, a Senate working group met for the first time. According to the DFL's Sen. Ron Latz, the DFL's goal is to "to set the table for some bipartisan consensus, get some consensus out, some details out." Sen. Latz couldn't find consensus if he was equipped with a GPS and a year of gas. (I would've said an EV but everyone knows that EVs are worthless in wintertime.) Republicans should issue a statement stating that they refuse to violate the U.S. Constitution or well-settled Supreme Court rulings. Republicans shouldn't tolerate the DFL using grieving parents to push the DFL's Marxist ideology. The truth is that the DFL doesn't care about these heartbroken parents or their children. The DFL cares about passing their Marxist agenda. I've noticed that the DFL hasn't said a thing about Robin Westman's repeated cries for help . Republicans have talked about getting the Robin Westmans the mental health treatment that they need. The Hou...

I'm tired of Democrats whining about the necessity for passing an assault weapons ban. Even if it passed and signed into law by Gov. Walz, which is far from certain, it won't survive the appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Let's stipulate, though, for this conversation that it survived judicial scrutiny. It wouldn't eliminate violence. It'd just eliminate violence from that type of weapon. That's because the gun is just the tool. It isn't the catalyst. It's like eliminating a car that was driven by a drunk driver. The car is gone but the drunk is still free to buy a different vehicle. The problem persists. Banning assault weapons, which is nothing more than a wierd-looking semi-automatic rifle, will do nothing to prevent violent crime. When assault weapons were banned, like during the 1990s, violent crime went dow because we had additional officers walking the streets or patrolling in squad cars. Further, banning assault weapons hadn't bee...

First, before getting into the notes that I received from a friend attending Saturday's State Central Committee meeting, I have an important announcement to make. I am officially Jeff Johnson's campaign manager as he campaigns for the GOP endorsement to defeat Tim Walz as governor of this once-great state. Now that I've made that announcment, it's time for me to express my official disappointment with the State Central Committee. Saturday morning, Councilman Jeff drove from St. Cloud to Redwood Falls to participate in a candidate forum amongst the gubernatorial candidates at the State Central meeting. There's just one problem. Nobody told the delegates assembled there that there would be a candidate forum. Further, at the meeting, we were told that there wouldn't be a forum because this isn't an endorsing year. If the state party was smart, which is definitely questionable at this point, they would've invited the candidates to the State Fair, aka the Gr...

Thisa morning, on the set of Fox & Friends, President Trump said "I think with a high-degree of certainty, we have him." This is how President Trump broke the news on the set of Fox & Friends: Though this won't stop the grieving of Kirk's wife and his parents, who were in the audience at Utah Valley University, it's still a potential ray of sunshine for Charlie's family and closest friends. Then there's this: Trump said he hopes the suspect gets the death penalty if found guilty. He also explained how investigators found the suspect — with help from a minister, a member of the U.S. Marshals Service and the suspect's father. "We have the person that we think is the person we're looking for, but they drove into the police headquarters, and he's there now," Trump said. The NYPost has reported "Tyler was turned in by his dad, a now-retired veteran law enforcement officer, who confronted him after seeing photos of the killer...

I was just taking a swing through my Twitter timeline when I found this tweet from Sen. Alex Padilla. It said "Republicans have permanently blown up the rules of the Senate to jam through Trump's unqualified nominees. Congress is supposed to be a check on the Executive Branch, not a rubber stamp. We won’t forget it." Let's examine the trustworthiness of Sen. Padilla's claim that President Trump's nominees are unqualified. Let's start with Pam Bondi. Let's compare her with Merrick Garland, who classified parents as domestic terrorists without a bit of evidence. By comparison, AG Bondi is prosecuting criminal aliens who’ve committed violent crimes. Kristi Noem-Alejandro Mayorkas Mayorkas was impeached for lying to Congress. He told the House Judiciary Committee that the border was secure while approximately 10,000,000 illegal aliens illegally crossed the border. Secretary Noem has teamed with Border Czar Tom Homan to shut the border. Scott Bessent-Jane...

During Sean Hannity's extended coverage of Charlie Kirk's assassination, Clay Travis let former President Obama have it with both proverbial barrels . Barack and his foul-mouthed sidekick, aka Joe Biden, did everything in their powers to ruin President Trump's life. They launched lawfare with novel criminal theories. They tried ruining President Trump's business empire. The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago when they knew he wouldn't be there. When Biden opened the border, President Trump highlighted that fact. Barack Obama insisted that the foreign invasion was a mirage. It wasn't a mirage. It was reality. Rather than opting for statesmanship, Obama opted for partisanship. When Sen. Schumer threatened Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh, Democrats went silent. Rather than being profiles in courage, Democrats opted for being profiles in partisanship. Sitting silent while the Democrats' Senate leader threatens sitting Supreme Court justices is for cowards. We don't...

I've waited to say this but it's difficult not to notice that Democrats have an evil problem in their party. RedState's Bob Hoge wrote this article after Democrats behaved boorishly after Lauren Bobert called for a spoken prayer on the House floor after an assassin cut Charlie Kirk's life short this afternoon. No, Democrats have no shame. Mr. Hoge wrote "It’s a truly sad moment in our country, yet on the floor of the House of Representatives, the left continued to prove that they are willing to stoop to ever new lows. After Colorado GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert asked for a spoken prayer, the Dems appeared to jeer and belittle the motion." I wish I could say that the Democrats' behavior is surprising but it isn't surprising. It's just sad. Just when you think that the Democrats’ behavior couldn’t sink lower, it sinks much lower. This is what ghoulish evil looks like. JFK and Hubert Humphrey wouldn’t put up with this type of behavior. In his final speech...

Hakeem Jeffries appears to want to create the impression that Republicans want to whitewash the 'official' record. When I say official record, I'm being sarcastic in that the record established by the J6 Committee was cherrypicked to create a misleading narrative. When then-Speaker Pelosi rejected Jim Jordan and Jim Banks as members of the J6 Committee, she rejected them so she could control what information got intentionally omitted from their report. In Part I of this series, I wrote how intentionally deceptive Democrats are. I quoted Hakeem Jeffries as telling a reporter that "What I will say very clearly is that we have as Democrats been very clear that we will support local law enforcement, which includes law enforcement on January 6th, the NYPD, the Chicago Police Department, the Metropolitan Police Department and do what's necessary to help them do their jobs." Notice that Jeffries didn't say Democrats supported all law enforcement. He said that De...

Apparently, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is interested in preserving the truth about the events of Jan. 6, 2021, especially if those dastardly Republicans attempt to whitewash the truth about J6. The Hill is reporting "House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that Democrats are prepping to battle any GOP effort to minimize the severity of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol." Additionally, the Hill is reporting that "Jeffries said he’s in talks with Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, about the party’s best approach to a new select committee, created by Republicans this week, that will revisit the attack in the coming months." It's insulting to think that Jamie Raskin is being relied on for anything related to the truth. Democrats are as committed to the truth as President Putin is committed to border integrity with Ukraine. Watch this video, then determine for yourself whether Jam...

Predictably, the House DFL caucus met Monday night to pick a new caucus chair following the assassinations of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. Predictably, the DFL picked someone from the Twin Cities. Predictably, he's worked in Mary Moriarty's district attorney's office. Predictably, he's as cookie cutter of a DFL legislator as you'll find. Alpha News is reporting that "Late Monday night, DFL legislators in the Minnesota House of Representatives elected Rep. Zack Stephenson as their new caucus leader. The fourth-term lawmaker from Coon Rapids was expected to compete against Rep. Jamie Long of Minneapolis to replace Melissa Hortman as the top-ranking DFL House member." Alpha is reporting this, too: Stephenson voted party-line with his caucus during the 2025 legislative session on a number of bills that came to the House floor, including against a bill that would have prohibited biological males from participating in girls’ sports. Th...

Someone should tell Jacob Frey and Omar Fateh that their plans for a reimagined police force isn't working. These men who seek to lead Minneapolis need to be shown the truth that timid policing isn't working. Enforcing the laws is required. Alpha News Crime Watch is reporting " Minneapolis marked its 45th homicide for the year early Monday morning , following a shooting near East Franklin Avenue and Elliot Avenue South that occurred about 1 a.m. A statement subsequently released by the Minneapolis Police Department said that a male in his 40s was discovered in the front yard of a residence with life-threatening gunshot wounds after Metro Transit officers heard gunfire in the area. The injured man died at the scene." When will these ultra-socialists get it into their thick skulls that their anti-policing policies don't work? The MPD statement didn't mention anything about putting a priority on beefing up patrols and preventing violent crimes rather than invest...

Chuck Schumer, the Democrats' leader in the Senate, thought he could tempt fate without paying a political price. This week, he's likely to pay a price for his gamble. He isn't alone in paying a political price for an idea. Matt Margolis is reporting that Amy Klobuchar, aka St. Amy of Hennepin County, came up with an idea to confirm lots of presidential appointees in a short period of time. He's reporting "After negotiations with Democrats predictably went nowhere, Thune assembled a working group in August featuring Republican Senators Katie Britt, James Lankford, Ron Johnson, Eric Schmitt, and Ted Budd. Their mission was simple: find a way around the Democratic roadblock. The solution they've crafted draws inspiration from an unlikely source—a 2023 proposal by Democrat Amy Klobuchar that would allow up to 10 nominees from the same committee to be confirmed together." This is additional reporting from Mr. Margolis: The Republican version promises to be fa...

For the past week, the DFL has pushed hard to get their anti-weapon base excited by promising them that they'll get assault weapons banned. As I wrote here , the assault weapons ban is another of the DFL's harshest hoaxes. It's harsh even by DFL standards because the DFL knows that assault weapons bans are illegal. They're illegal because the U.S. Supreme Court banned the banning of these weapons in 3 separate rulings: Heller (DC), McDonald (Chicago) and Bruin (NYC). Why the DFL would intentionally lie to grieving parents from Annunciation Catholic Church and School is sickening. To be certain, the DFL told DFL activists, too. DFL legislators and DFL mayors joined in the chorus. This shooting, as tragic as it is, won't keep the DFL fired up through Election Day, 2026. Since the DFL doesn't have anything to really run on, the question becomes 'which lies will the DFL rely on to win races'? Here are the DFL mayors trying to peddle the assault weapons bans...

The DFL's strategy is apparent in the aftermath of the Aug. 27 church shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church. It's painfully obvious that part of the DFL's strategy is something I call the DFL's Assault Weapons Ban Hoax. It's a hoax because it's illegal. It's illegal because of the 2008 DC v. Heller ruling that said that guns purchased for the lawful protection of families is protected by the Second Amendment. I wrote this article so I could quote from Justice Scalia's majority opinion. Justice Scalia wrote "Under any of the standards of scrutiny the Court has applied to enumerated constitutional rights, this prohibition—in the place where the importance of the lawful defense of self, family, and property is most acute—would fail constitutional muster. " In short, assault weapons bans are illegal because, whether the DFL likes it or not, AR-15s are used to protect families. The DFL knows this but they're relying on the DC v. Heller rulin...

Richard Carlbom went from being DFL Gov. Tim Walz's Deputy Chief of Staff to being State DFL Party chair in a blink of an eye. It's apparent that Carlbom is working from the same focus group set of recommendations that require Democrats swear often so they sound tough. It isn't that bright to think he's a poll-tested machine incapable of making original statements. According to this article , Carlbom went on a couple of profanity-filled diatribes following Vice President Vance's visit. Carlbom is quoted as saying that Tom Emmer is "a weak ass and dumb ass politician." Of VP Vance's trip, Carlbom is quoted as saying "This appearance is a waste of taxpayer dollars, nothing more than political theater from an administration desperate to hide from its own failures." Considering the fact that the DFL's gun-grabber policies have failed and the DFL has let hundreds of millions of dollars walk out the door in Medicaid fraud, it's fair to ask...

I can't call the fight between Sen. Tim Kaine and Prof. Jonathan Turley a battle of intellects. G. Gordon once famously said that he refused a battle of wits with an unarmed man. Last week, Sen. Kaine volunteered to be a punching bag for Prof. Turley when he said "The notion that rights don't come from laws, and don't come from the government, but come from the Creator... That's what the Iranian government believes... So the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling. It's important to note that Sen. Ted Cruz used Sen. Kaine as a punching bag before Prof. Turley used this op-ed to teach Sen. Kaine a lesson in constitutional principles and U.S. history. It's fair to say that the concept of our rights coming from Nature's God is revolutionary. After all, the Declaration of Independence included the phrase "We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights..." This tweet compares S...

A long-time reader of my blogs sent me an email notice telling me that "State Sen. Aric Putnam, wife Laurie Putnam, Mental Health provider Zach Dorholt and St. Cloud Police Chief Jeff Oxton "will host a panel discussion on safe schools and safe communities on Wednesday, September 10, from 6:30 – 7:30 PM at the Tech High School Commons." KNSI is reporting that "St. Cloud residents will have the chance to talk face-to-face with school and community leaders about any safety concerns they have in the wake of the Annunciation Catholic School shooting." Based on the fact that the event is scheduled for 1 hour, how many questions can you get in after 4 people host a panel discussion on the Annunciation Catholic School and Church shooting. Will this be more of a lecture on the DFL anti-gun agenda or will it be a full-throated discussion of what's required to make all schools safe? Will Putnam permit Republicans to talk about their school safety agenda, which I wr...

Joe Thompson, the Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, nailed it when he said "They deserved better. We all deserve better. I am weary of this endless violence. Minnesota deserves peace. We will keep fighting to restore it." Lots of Minnesotans are weary of this endless violence. Most importantly, I'm tired of the DFL putting together activist campaigns based on BS. I can't dispute that the Annunciation shooting involved a gun. That isn't the heart of the problem, though. The problem was that a) the Red Flag Laws that the DFL passed in 2023 didn't work, b) the shooter said in his manifesto that he had mental health issues that were illegal to treat and c) the shooter's mental health issue was that he struggled with being trans. The shooter admitted it in his manifesto. The biggest problem that the DFL has is that the DFL's 'solution' is that it's unconstitutional. Banning 'assault weapons' has been illegal ever since the Heller v. D...

If I've heard it once, I've heard it 1,000 times. Albert Einstein once famously said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result. When it comes to school shootings, the DFL's approach remains the same. The DFL's approach doesn't change. Strip law-abiding citizens of their God-given rights, give criminals a slap on the wrist. That's if they get prosecuted. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Tim Walz is yapping about calling another special session, this time to supposedly prevent gun violence. This is different only in that we've never tried passing gun laws in special sessions before. Otherwise, the script remains the same. They make Einstein look prophetic. Thankfully, House Republicans have flipped the script . According to Fox9's reporting , "Minnesota Republicans shared their provisions for school safety measures in the state." I wrote here that the DFL, either the legislature or Gov. Wa...

Rather than waiting for Tim Walz to call a special session to deal with gun violence, House GOP leadership introduced a school safety package. They did this before the DFL storms the state with the message of doing something rather than just offering thoughts and prayers. The bottom line is this: the House GOP is now positioning itself to make the DFL defend the DFL's gun control legislation agenda. According to this Alpha News article , "Republicans in the Minnesota legislature announced a school-safety agenda on Thursday they say they’ll make a priority to pass during a potential special session and during next year’s regular session. " This tells the DFL this isn't just a special session stunt. It's a well-thought through set of proposals. That being said, the DFL isn't likely to support much of the GOP's agenda. That’s their problem. If the DFL doesn’t want to protect all students, that can become the DFL’s cross to bear.Predictably, Sen. Klobuchar we...

In what seemed like minutes of Julie Blaha's announcement that she wouldn't seek reelection as Minnesota's State Auditor, Dan Wolgamott announced that he's running to replace Blaha. KSTP is reporting that "At least one of Minnesota’s constitutional officers plans to leave office at the end of their term. State Auditor Julie Blaha, a Democrat, announced Thursday morning that she won’t seek reelection in 2026. She was first elected to the role in 2018 and narrowly won reelection in 2022. The Office of the State Auditor (OSA) is a 'watchdog,' overseeing around $60 billion in local spending and focusing on how that money is being spent. The state auditor also serves on several state boards and councils, including ones that oversee state pensions and investments." KSTP is being diplomatic in saying that the State Auditor is "a watchdog." The OSA is more of a purely political office than anything else. When Mark Dayton signed a bill giving countie...