Minnesota general election begins to take shape as DFL, GOP candidates are set after primary
The candidates for the Minnesota general election are all set, and the campaigns are shifting into a higher gear.
If you are a Republican, the matchups for the fall have never looked more promising.
"This expands the maps for the Democrats and the Republicans with a real opportunity for pick up for the Republicans in a state that no one has looked at in 20 plus years," said Republican analyst Amy Frederiksen.
But in Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan's big DFL Senate win, DFL analyst Abou Amara sees a national trend.
"Peggy Flanagan, continuing the trend we're seeing across the country with progressives winning against moderate and competitive senators," he said.
The governors race will pit Sen. Amy Klobuchar against Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth. Klobuchar with her decades of double-digit wins and across the aisle bipartisan deals was the pre-primary poll favorite.
Klobuchar is expected to capitalize on the President's low approval numbers.
"Donald Trump controls the House, he controls the Senate, he controls the White House. The sentiment of the country is going to be anti-Republican," said Amara.
But it's been years since Klobuchar has faced as strong a candidate as Demuth, who has negotiated a seemingly impossible balancing act with a tied Minnesota House of Representatives.
"Don't count out Lisa Demuth, this was a massive victory," said Frederiksen.
And for the Senate race, Flanagan was outspent 4-1 in the primary but trounced Rep. Angie Craig by almost 20 points.
"Peggy Flanagan has activated a base of people within the state of Minnesota and is able to ride a progressive wave," said Amara.
In the Senate race, Republicans have sent through charismatic former television and radio broadcaster Michele Tafoya. Tafoya has already been running for weeks against fraud scandals.
"It's gonna be the number one issue. It has to be. There's just no way to ignore it and it got largely and completely ignored in this primary. It got almost completely ignored. The only person bringing it up was Michelle Tafoya in some of her commercials," said Fredericksen.
