Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District House Race Winner

The Diocese of Duluth has formally launched the Cause for Canonization of Monsignor Joseph Francis Buh, a Slovenian-born priest who spent roughly 60 years as a missionary in northern Minnesota beginning in the 1860s. Buh served Indigenous communities and Slovenian immigrants across a vast territory, at times traveling by snowshoe or canoe. A Mass marking the start of the process was held September 22 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary, drawing hundreds of attendees, including a newly formed historical commission tasked with researching his life and virtues.

Bishop Daniel Felton received Vatican approval to begin the inquiry after consulting with other bishops, noting this is the diocese's first sainthood candidate. The process requires investigators to establish that Buh lived a life of "heroic virtue," a prerequisite before the case can advance toward beatification and eventual canonization, the latter stages of which require verified miracles. Such causes typically span decades; the National Catholic Register puts the average timeline at about 49 years, with no fixed schedule for completion.

Data centers are drawing unusual bipartisan scrutiny as their rapid expansion to support artificial intelligence collides with local concerns over energy use, water consumption, and community impact. While debates over technology and infrastructure often split along party lines, opposition to large-scale data center projects is emerging among both Democrats and Republicans, complicating assumptions about who supports or resists the buildout.

A proposal by Google to site a data center in Hermantown, Minnesota, near Lake Superior's ample water supply, illustrates the trend. Despite the area's Republican lean, skepticism toward the project has not broken down neatly along partisan lines. Similar patterns have surfaced elsewhere, including among conservative legislative candidates in Wisconsin's Republican primary, several of whom favored local control over data center siting rather than outright support.

The dynamic matters for policymakers and industry alike, as the AI sector's massive infrastructure needs increasingly depend on winning over skeptical communities regardless of political affiliation, potentially reshaping how future data center projects are permitted and sited nationwide.

A federal judge in Wisconsin has sentenced Justin Ward, 32, of Ironwood, Mich., to time served and three years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to threatening to kill federal immigration agents during a high-profile ICE operation in Minneapolis. Chief U.S. District Judge James Peterson handed down the sentence, citing Ward's mental health crisis at the time and the custody time he had already served, which aligned with sentencing guidelines.

The case began in January 2026 when Michigan's Gogebic County Sheriff's Office investigated Ward for threatening a local officer. Deputies tracked him via Facebook posts showing he was heading toward Duluth through Wisconsin, where he then posted threats to kill ICE agents amid the widely publicized Minneapolis enforcement operation. He was quickly arrested following a joint investigation by the sheriff's office and FBI. Judge Peterson imposed strict release conditions, including a curfew and GPS monitoring.

Copley Township, Ohio, is asking voters to approve a new fire levy on Nov. 3 after a state law change eliminated an option that officials said could have raised about $1.7 million more per year. House Bill 96 ended the authority of townships and other political subdivisions to seek replacement property-tax levies for elections held on or after Jan. 1, 2026; Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed the provision, but the Ohio House and Senate completed a veto override by Oct. 1.

With that option gone, Copley trustees moved to put a three-year, 1.7-mill additional fire levy, Issue 49, on the ballot, which the county estimates would raise more than $1.3 million annually. The township's fire department faces about $4.2 million in scheduled capital spending from 2027 through 2032, including a new fire engine and ladder truck, against roughly $1.6 million in reserves. Unlike a replacement levy, which is imposed at the original voted rate, the new levy would be added on top of the township's two existing continuing fire levies, which remain unchanged. If approved, taxes would first be payable in 2027.

St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her has reversed course on some proposed 2027 budget cuts, announcing a supplemental budget that restores funding for the Dayton's Bluff Library lease, the Highwood Hills Rec Center, and morning hours at recreation centers citywide. The $574,000 in added spending is funded by $274,000 in savings from the city's shift to even-year elections and $300,000 in new revenue from a franchise agreement with Xcel Energy.

The reversal follows criticism from City Council Member Cheniqua Johnson and East Side residents over an initial proposal that would have closed the only library slated for shutdown and cut rec center services disproportionately affecting the East Side. The Duluth and Case rec center, however, remains on track for eventual closure due to its aging infrastructure and unfunded rebuild costs estimated at $30-40 million. The council is set to vote September 23 on a maximum property tax levy increase, with the final budget to be finalized in December.

In Florida's 25th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz and Republican challenger Scott Singer, both Jewish, debated their pro-Israel credentials at a Boca Raton synagogue forum ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms. The two largely agree on Israel policy — opposing conditions on U.S. military aid and rejecting genocide accusations against Israel — but clashed over Moskowitz's vote for a war powers resolution on Iran and his past vote to keep Rep. Ilhan Omar on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Moskowitz cited his AIPAC endorsement; Singer touted backing from Trump and the RJC. The redrawn district, once Biden-leaning, now favors Trump, making the race a closely watched midterm battleground.

A November 3 legislative race in Minnesota's largest House district, 3A, is drawing attention as a test of rural populist politics amid worsening economic conditions. Republican incumbent Rep. Dave Skraba, who narrowly won the seat in 2022 before a comfortable 2024 victory, faces DFL challenger Kania, who has been outworking the campaign trail despite trailing badly in fundraising. Kania is betting that door-knocking and a focus on mining, health care, and forest management can recreate the kind of cross-coalition appeal once shown by Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party figures like Gov. Rudy Perpich and Sen. Paul Wellstone, who dominated the region decades earlier. The race remains a long shot for Democrats but reflects broader questions about rural voters' patience with economic decline.

Minnesota voters went to the polls August 11 in Democratic primaries pitting moderate Rep. Angie Craig against progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan for the open Senate seat left by retiring Sen. Tina Smith. Flanagan drew backing from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Ilhan Omar and Smith herself, while Craig secured establishment support from Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi, Pete Buttigieg and Gwen Walz, and roughly doubled Flanagan's fundraising. The race centered on Craig's contested vote for the Laken Riley Act, which she has since disavowed, immigration enforcement after federal agents killed two protesters during "Operation Metro Surge," and clashing views on Israel and AIPAC funding. On the Republican side, Michele Tafoya leads a fundraising-heavy field including party-endorsed Adam Schwarze and Royce White, while Amy Klobuchar faces minimal opposition for governor against Republicans Mike Lindell (Trump-endorsed), Lisa Demuth and Kendall Qualls, as the GOP seeks its first statewide win since 2006.

Craig's departure also triggered a six-way Democratic primary for her open 2nd Congressional District seat. The results will help determine whether Democrats lean moderate or progressive heading into the midterms and test Republican hopes of ending their statewide losing streak. Prediction markets, which favored Flanagan and Craig-adjacent dynamics entering Election Day, are watching outcomes as an early signal for the broader 2026 fight over Congress and Minnesota's state government.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar is seeking to become Minnesota's next governor, casting herself as a moderate Democrat who can repair the state's reputation and address pandemic-era welfare fraud scandals that Republicans have used to paint Minnesota as a cautionary tale of liberal governance. Klobuchar, who built a national profile during her 2020 presidential run and has served in the U.S. Senate, is widely seen as the favorite in the race.

Her campaign comes as Minnesota Democrats face scrutiny over fraud tied to pandemic relief programs, along with lingering political fallout from the 2020 murder of George Floyd and subsequent unrest in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Klobuchar is positioning herself against more progressive currents within her party, emphasizing pragmatic governance over ideological approaches associated with democratic socialism. The race is being watched as a test of whether centrist Democrats can reclaim ground in a state Republicans have targeted as emblematic of government mismanagement, with implications for broader 2026 gubernatorial and midterm dynamics.

A new Star Tribune/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll shows DFL Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan with a modest lead over Republican Michele Tafoya in the race for Minnesota's open U.S. Senate seat, one of the few Republicans hope to flip this cycle despite a difficult national environment for the GOP.

Flanagan's edge is driven largely by lopsided margins in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, reflecting broader dissatisfaction among Minnesota voters with President Donald Trump. Some voters, including independents critical of both parties, cited opposition to Trump's policies, including the administration's actions regarding Iran, as a reason for backing Flanagan.

Despite the deficit, the poll results support Tafoya's contention that she is running competitively in a traditionally Democratic-leaning state, bucking broader national trends that favor Democrats this cycle. Minnesota hasn't elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 2002, and Democrats appear more enthusiastic heading into the election even as national Republicans focus resources on defending seats in more conservative states.