Pat Kessler says these are the main Minnesota midterm storylines ...
MINNEAPOLIS -- With a little bit over an hour left until the polls close, WCCO correspondent Pat Kessler says there are quite a few close races this year in Minnesota.
That includes the race at the top of the ticket -- the governor's office. A national averaging of polls shows this race is closer than expected, but Gov. Tim Walz has maintained a steady lead throughout the campaign. He's the incumbent but he's facing a lot of strong political headwinds, including President Joe Biden's low approval ratings, a struggling economy, and lingering resentment over COVID-19 pandemic policies. His opponent, Dr. Scott Jensen, has positioned himself as the face of the anti-masking, anti-vaccine, anti-emergency powers movement.
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In the attorney general race, incumbent Keith Ellison is facing a serious chance of being ousted by Republican challenger Jim Schultz. Ellison is being accused of mishandling the Feeding Our Future fraud case, and is still taking heat for his voiced support of defunding the Minneapolis Police Department. Schultz is a corporate lawyer who has never held public office or had experience in the courtroom, but was active in the anti-abortion movement. Schultz has been shown pulling ahead of Ellison in recent polls. He would be the first non-Democrat in the position in half a century.
Meanwhile, the secretary of state race has been part of the national conversation about election integrity. Incumbent Steve Simon was first elected in 2014 and is now seeking his third term. His Republican challenger, Kim Crockett, is an avowed election denier, who said the 2020 presidential election was "rigged," and won't say if she'll accept the 2022 election results.
The race for state auditor is usually a pretty sleepy affair, but in this cycle the incumbent could see a major upset. Julie Blaha stands a reasonable chance of losing the seat to her Republican rival Ryan Wilson, a lawyer and businessman. Much like Ellison, she's facing some backlash in the wake of the Feeding Our Future scandal.
It will be only a matter of hours before all of these races are settled.