Author

Michelle Griffith

Michelle Griffith

Michelle Griffith covers Minnesota politics and policy for the Reformer, with a focus on marginalized communities. Most recently she was a reporter with The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead in North Dakota where she covered state and local government and Indigenous issues.

Walz wants more education funding but yet to offer specifics ahead of legislative session

By: - November 29, 2022

Gov. Tim Walz, now with fewer hurdles to enact his agenda thanks to the DFL’s state government trifecta, offered few specifics about his education funding priorities during a school visit Tuesday. Walz did allow that Minnesota needs to address staffing shortages, reduce property taxes and work to provide free lunch for public school students. At […]

AG seeking public input on potential merger between Fairview, Sanford Health

By: - November 22, 2022

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Tuesday announced his office is seeking public input on a possible merger between Sanford Health and Fairview Health Services to create a new health care system that spans the Midwest. Ellison said people can submit comments or concerns about the merger through a new online forum. The Attorney General’s […]

Walz announces departures of health, public safety, education commissioners

By: - November 16, 2022

Gov. Tim Walz announced Wednesday that his commissioners of health, education and public safety are stepping down. Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm, Department of Education Commissioner Heather Mueller and Commissioner of Public Safety John Harrington all opted to “not to seek reappointment,” Walz’s office said in a release. Commissioner of Iron Range Resources and […]

Scott Jensen admits he misjudged Minnesotans’ priorities in run for governor

By: - November 14, 2022

Republican nominee for governor Scott Jensen lost to Gov. Tim Walz by nearly 200,000 votes on Election Day, and over the weekend he confessed he mistakenly downplayed the importance of abortion among Minnesotans. Jensen waffled on the issue during the campaign, initially saying in an interview that he wanted to ban abortion in Minnesota with […]

Minnesota teachers’ union pushing for multibillion-dollar education investment

By: - November 10, 2022

Minnesota’s teachers’ union is pushing lawmakers to make a multibillion-dollar investment in the state’s public schools now that education- and union-friendly Democrats have full control of state government. Education Minnesota, which played a big role in the DFL’s electoral victory, said on Thursday that it will lobby legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz — a […]

Walz hopeful about agenda in second term

By: - November 9, 2022

Gov. Tim Walz said during a post-election victory news conference that full Democratic control of state government would allow his administration to enact a long-delayed progressive program. Perhaps as shocked as other politicos about the outcome of what many thought would be a commanding Republican victory, Walz provided few specifics on what his first priorities […]

Election Day has arrived. Here’s what you need to know.

By: - November 8, 2022

It’s time to vote, Minnesota. Your Election Day questions, answered:  Use the Minnesota Secretary of State website to find your polling place and who is on your ballot. Most Minnesota polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. As long as you’re in line to vote by 8 p.m., you can […]

Walz, Jensen mobilize voters in final campaign sprint before Tuesday election

By: - November 5, 2022

At the University of Minnesota Duluth’s student center on Wednesday, students encircled Gov. Tim Walz while others lined up to join the scrum. They asked the first-term DFL governor for one more selfie before his staff whisked him away to another campaign stop just days before Minnesotans decide whether to give Walz another term.  A […]

Inflammatory anti-CRT mailers sent to Minnesota suburban voters

By: - November 3, 2022

A Virginia-based political action committee is spending thousands of dollars for direct mailers attacking Minnesota DFL legislative candidates by associating them with a statement about killing white people.   The mailers are funded by the group Make Liberty Win, which is backed almost entirely by the Texas-based conservative student activist organization Young Americans for Liberty, according […]

Minnesota candidates splurge campaign funds in final days before election

By: - November 1, 2022

Minnesota’s candidates for statewide office are making their final spending pushes ahead of the general election next week, according to Tuesday’s final batch of campaign finance reports. DFL Gov. Tim Walz raised nearly $5.7 million during 2022, and spent $8.56 million — with the addition of the funds he raised last year. His Republican challenger, […]

Walz: Minnesota is envy of the nation, still has room to grow

By: - November 1, 2022

Just 62 days after Gov. Tim Walz issued a stay-at-home order to Minnesotans at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, George Floyd was murdered at the hands of police. Civil unrest ensued and a Minneapolis police precinct was torched. In July 2020, Walz ordered a statewide mask mandate for indoor spaces. Then […]

Office owned by Line 3 operator purchased by Indigenous activists for cultural museum

By: - October 31, 2022

A former office owned by Enbridge — operator of the Line 3 oil pipeline in northern Minnesota — was purchased by an Indigenous and environmental rights nonprofit that will turn the building into a treaty rights and culture museum.  Honor the Earth, a local women-led organization, has fought Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline for more than […]