Insight ::: 11.14.2022

AG ELLISON VICTORIOUS;AG ELLISON

GOP assassination efforts fail

DFL Trifecta: Voters rout Republican blockages

By Steve Karnowski Associated Press

Minnesota Democrats defied expectations in a midterm election that had been expected to go well for Republicans, winning the governor’s race and completing a trifecta Wednesday by winning both houses of the Legislature to take full control of state government for the first time in eight years.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller conceded Wednesday morning that his party had lost its majority to Senate Democrats. That followed a concession earlier Wednesday from GOP House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt and the reelection of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday night.

“Tim Walz is the governor for four more years,” GOP challenger Scott Jensen told supporters in a concession speech. “Republicans, quite frankly, we didn’t have a red wave. It was a blue wave. And we need to stop, we need to recalibrate, we need to ask ourselves: ‘OK, what can we learn from this? What can we do better? How do we go forward?’ “

While several legislative races were yet to be called as of Wednesday morning, Democrats appeared to exceed the 68 seats they need to preserve their majority in the House, while Democrats appeared to have the 34 seats they need to control the Senate.

The only other time that Minnesota saw singleparty control in the past 30 years was when Democrats held full power in 2013-14, and the last time any Minnesota Republican won statewide office was in 2006, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty was reelected.

“While it does not look like Senate Republicans will maintain control of the Senate, we will continue to fight for keeping life affordable

for working Minnesotans and seniors, safer communities and support for law enforcement, and more opportunities for students to be successful in

the classroom and beyond,” Miller said in a statement. Democrats also appeared poised to keep Minnesota’s three other

constitutional offices. Secretary of State Steve Simon defeated Republican election skeptic Kim Crockett, winning more votes than any

other Democratic statewide candidate including Walz. Attorney General Keith Ellison and State Auditor Julie Blaha defeated GOP

challengers Jim Schultz and Ryan Wilson.

photo/Abbie Parr

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz acknowledges the crowd at the DFL election-night party after winning re-election against Republican challenger Scott Jensen, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn.

photo/Abbie Parr

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison speaks to the DFL election night party after defeating Republican challenger Jim Schultz, early Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn.

Democrats win control of executive and legislative branches of state

By Steve Karnowski Associated Press

Democrats kept control of the Minnesota House while the partisan balance in the state Senate remained unsettled early Wednesday.

Democrats appeared to be on pace to reach or exceed the 68 seats they needed to preserve their majority in the House. It takes 34 seats to control the Senate.

All 201 seats were on the ballot but millions of dollars poured into a couple dozen legislative races that were considered truly competitive.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul suburbs were the main battleground but districts on the Iron Range and some other Greater Minnesota communities were also in play. Republicans

pledged to fight crime and inflation, while Democrats vowed to defend abortion rights.

Going into the election, Minnesota was one of only three states, in addition to Alaska and Virginia, where legislative control was divided. But Minnesota has a long history of divided government.

The current split control in the Legislature — with Democrats running the House and the governor’s office with Republicans holding the Senate — meant gridlock this

year, when the parties adjourned the legislative session without agreeing on how to use most of a $9.25 billion budget surplus. The only time Minnesota saw single-party control in the past 30 years is when Democrats held full power in 2013-14. Check out https:// apnews.com/hub/explainingthe-elections to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the 2022 midterm elections.

Keith Ellison wins Minnesota Attorney General race

By Steve Karnowski Associated Press

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison claimed victory and won a second term on Wednesday as he defeated Republican Jim Schultz.

Ellison led Schultz by about 21,000 votes, or nearly 1 percentage point — well outside the margin for a publicly funded recount.

“Millions of dollars were spent to sow division, hate, and fear,” Ellison said in a statement. “And we overcame it: we were positive, and Minnesotans responded.”

Schultz conceded defeat on Wednesday.

Schultz, a 37-yearold hedge fund attorney with no courtroom experience, is a political newcomer who has been trying to blame Ellison for rising crime. He was seeking to become the first Republican to win Minnesota’s attorney general race since 1966. Ellison, who burst on the national scene as the first Muslim elected to Congress in 2006, left that safe seat behind for his first run as attorney general in 2018, saying it was his best chance to push back against the policies of Donald Trump. Ellison just squeaked into office, and his progressive policies have made him a polarizing figure in the eyes of some voters.

Ellison led the prosecution team that won a conviction of former police Officer Derek Chauvin in George Floyd’s killing, and obtained guilty pleas from other officers. He also stepped in to prosecute a suburban Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot a Black motorist, Daunte Wright, in the midst of Chauvin’s trial. Ellison said his office had successfully prosecuted 50 serious crimes, and contrasted that with Schultz’s lack of courtroom experience. Schultz made crime his top issue. He accused Ellison of being at the forefront of the “defund the police” movement that arose from Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, and he promised to shift the office’s attorneys away

By Steve Karnwoski Associated Press

Democrat Tim Walz won a second term as Minnesota’s governor, fending off a challenge by Republican Scott Jensen, a family practice physician who grabbed national attention with his vaccine skepticism.

Walz led Minnesota through the COVID-19 pandemic -- including lockdowns, school shutdowns and business closures. He also led the state through the unrest that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. He made his support for abortion rights a centerpiece of his campaign.

Jensen hammered Walz for rising crime, including failing to control damaging protests after Floyd’s death, and for what he called damaging shutdowns during the coronavirus. But he proved vulnerable on abortion, which remains legal in Minnesota.

Jensen supported a complete ban early in the campaign, then softened his position after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and after Democrats ran countless ads highlighting his stance.

Walz’s victory extends the Democratic Party’s 12-year grip on the governor’s office. The last time a Minnesota Republican won statewide office was in 2006, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty was reelected.

Walz, a former congressman and high school football coach, found ways to work with the divided Minnesota Legislature during his first year as governor in 2019, but his relations with the Senate GOP majority deteriorated over how he used emergency powers to impose pandemic restrictions without legislative approval.

By this year’s session, Walz and House Democrats were unable to agree with GOP lawmakers over how to spend most of a $9 billion budget surplus.

Walz made his support

for abortion rights a centerpiece of his campaign after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Roe v. Wade decision.

Jensen supported a complete abortion ban early in the race, but then softened his position after coming under fire following the high court’s ruling. He eventually said he would accept exceptions for rape, incest and the life or health of the mother. But he argued that abortion wasn’t on the ballot -- something Walz strongly disputed -- and sought to draw voters’ attention instead

to inflation and the rise in crime that followed Floyd’s murder.

He also blamed Walz for a massive $250 million fraud in a food aid program meant to feed schoolchildren during the pandemic, saying his administration missed chances to stop the fraud far sooner.

Jensen had a reputation as a sometimesmoderate maverick from suburban Chaska during his one term in the Minnesota Senate. But he veered sharply to the

Stacey Abrams concedes to Georgia Govenor Brian Kemp in rematch

By Jeff Amy Associated Press

Democratic

Abrams called Kemp to concede, according to his campaign, and went on stage minutes later to congratulate the governor.

“I may no longer be seeking the office of governor, but I will never stop doing everything in my power to ensure the people of Georgia have a voice,” she said.

Kemp, who was a developer before serving as a state senator and secretary of state, clinched another term despite attacks from former President Donald Trump that threatened to snuff out support in his own party.

“Well, it looks like the reports of my political death have been greatly exaggerated,” Kemp told supporters after Abrams’ concession.

The Associated Press had not yet called the race Tuesday night. Kemp, 59, seemed on shaky ground among Republicans after the 2020 presidential election, when Trump blamed him for not doing enough to overturn President Joe Biden’s narrow win in Georgia. Trump helped lure former U.S. Sen. David Perdue into a primary challenge to Kemp, whom he called a “complete and total failure”.

But Kemp motored away from Perdue during the GOP primary, winning nearly 74% of the vote. Kemp patiently explained his election actions to Republicans even as he used his office to sign conservativepleasing bills loosening gun laws, cutting taxes and banning “divisive concepts” in schools.

During the campaign, Kemp highlighted his stewardship of the state economy and his decision to relax public restrictions early

GOP House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt called Democratic Speaker Melissa Hortman to concede, his spokesman Andrew Wagner said.

challenger Stacey Abrams conceded to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday in a rematch of their 2018 race.

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photo/Abbie Parr Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges the crowd after speaking about reproductive rights Oct. 22, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn.

photo/Ben Gray

Stacey Abrams, Democratic candidate for Georgia governor, gives a concession speech in Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.

(AP Photo/Nicole Neri, File) photo/Nicole Neri

Incumbent Governor Tim Walz debates gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen in the third and final gubernatorial debate at the Fitzgerald Theater, Oct. 28, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn.

photo/File

Going into the election, Minnesota was one of only three states, in addition to Alaska and Virginia, where legislative control was divided.

By

Democrat Wes Moore was elected Maryland’s first Black governor Tuesday, defeating Republican Dan Cox in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.

Moore’s victory flips a governor’s office from Republican to Democratic. Of the 36 governor’s races this year, Maryland and Massachusetts represented the best chances for Democrats to regain a governor’s office at a time when the GOP holds a 28-22 edge in governor’s seats. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is term limited.

Only two other Black politicians have ever been elected governor in the United States — Virginia’s Douglas Wilder in 1989, and Deval Patrick of Massachusetts in 2006. Democrat Stacey Abrams would become the nation’s first Black female governor if she wins her Georgia rematch against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

With the slogan “leave no one behind,” the former combat veteran and former CEO of one of the nation’s largest anti-poverty organizations campaigned on creating equal opportunity for Maryland residents.

“This can be Maryland’s moment,” Moore said in a debate last month.

“We have amazing people and incredible potential, but not everybody’s in a position to succeed.”

Moore, 44, defeated a first-term state legislator who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, who only received 32% of the vote in Maryland in the 2020 presidential election.

During their only debate, Moore criticized Cox for attending the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, before Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Moore described Cox as “an extremist election-denier whose rhetoric and his policies are not only dangerous and divisive, but

will take our state backwards.”

Kevin Holmboe, who voted for Moore in Annapolis, Maryland, cited the candidate’s resume as a former combat veteran who served in Afghanistan as well as a Rhodes scholar with a business background as qualifications that jumped out at him.

“He just had all the right things to lead me in that direction,” Holmboe, 60, said after voting for Moore.

The race was marked by Hogan’s refusal to support Cox, whom he has described as “a QAnon whack job” unfit for office.

Republican voters who supported Cox said Trump’s endorsement of the candidate was significant to them.

“Quite frankly, he’s a MAGA Republican,” said John Jacobs, 57, who voted for Cox in Annapolis, in a reference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

While explaining his vote for Cox, Jacobs quickly pivoted to criticizing Hogan,

who is weighing a presidential bid — potentially against Trump. “And Larry Hogan, who if my life depended on it I probably wouldn’t vote for him, and I’m a Republican, for president.”

Cox organized bus trips for protesters to Washington for the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Cox has also said Biden’s victory should not have been certified and tweeted that former Vice President Mike Pence was a “traitor.” Cox later deleted the tweet and apologized.

Other candidates who ran for governor included David Lashar, of the Libertarian Party; Nancy Wallace, of the Green Party; and David Harding, of the Working Class Party.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Anthony Brown also is hoping to make history by becoming the state’s first Black attorney general. Brown, a three-term congressman representing a majority-Black district in the suburbs of the nation’s capital, served as lieutenant governor for eight years. He lost the 2014

governor’s race to Hogan before winning his U.S. House seat.

Brown is running against Republican Michael Peroutka, a former Anne Arundel County Council member.

A Republican has not been elected attorney general in Maryland since 1919. Edward D.E. Rollins was the last Republican to serve in the office, after

being appointed to it in 1952. In another open statewide race, Democrat Brooke Lierman is running against Republican Barry Glassman for comptroller, which is the state’s tax collector. The comptroller holds one of three positions on the state’s powerful Board of Public Works, along with the governor and state treasurer.

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from their traditional duties of consumer and labor protection

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right in the early days of the pandemic, not only criticizing the Walz administration’s response but also flirting

into a major expansion of the criminal division. He also accused Ellison of doing too little to stop a massive scheme that federal prosecutors say stole at least $250 million from a program to feed children during the pandemic. Ellison supported

with questionable treatments and the anti-vax movement.

Jensen also suggested that Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon might be jailed for his running of the state’s election system, despite no evidence of problems with state elections.

Chuck Frid, 80, of

in the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also gave billions in tax breaks and handouts using federal and state money. Kemp

a failed Minneapolis ballot measure in 2020 that would have replaced the city’s police department with a vaguely defined public safety department. But he maintained that he never supported defunding police, just reforming law enforcement. And he accused Schultz of misstating

Mendota Heights, voted early in Dakota County. A self-identified independent, Frid said he backed every Democratic candidate on his ballot, and has been voting more Democratic in recent years — and especially since the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump.

“It just really makes

pushed laws to suspend the state gas tax, give $1 billion of state income tax refunds and even give $350 to every person in the state on public assistance. He also pledged another income tax break and a property tax break if reelected, portraying the cash as helping Georgians “fight through 40-year-high inflation and high gas prices” that he blamed on Biden, Abrams and other Democrats.

“We did not get distracted on this hard-fought campaign, just like we have stayed focused on putting you first throughout my first term,” Kemp said Tuesday night. “We woke up every single day talking about how to build a safer, stronger Georgia for you and your family.”

Nearly half of Georgia voters say the economy is the most pressing issue facing the country, according to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of more

the role of the attorney general’s office in fighting violent crime, pointing out that it can only take over a criminal case at the request of the local county attorney or the governor. After the Supreme Court overturned the Roe legal precedent that guaranteed a

me nervous,” Frid, a retired salesman, said. “They say 20 to 30% of Republicans still believe the Big Lie ... and I just think it’s not putting the country first.”

He also said he disagreed with Jensen’s opposition to abortion.

Erik Thorberg, 47, a Republican voter in suburban

than 3,000 voters in the state. Roughly a third of Georgians say their family is falling behind financially. A majority of those voters cast ballots for Kemp and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker.

The slight proportion of voters — about 1 in 10 — who say their families are getting ahead financially were more likely to vote for Democratic candidates, including Abrams and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.

Rising costs were named as a top concern among the state’s voters, with roughly 9 in 10 saying the inflated prices of groceries, gas and other goods were an important factor in how they cast ballots. Among those who said they considered inflation in their voting decision, roughly half said the cost of groceries and food was the most important factor.

Abrams, a lawyer whose 2018 loss to Kemp

national right to abortion, Ellison made the issue central to his campaign. He vowed to use his office to defend abortion rights, and reminded voters that Schultz had vowed to go on “offense, offense, offense” against abortion when he was trying to win the GOP nomination.

Lakeville, backed Jensen in early voting Monday. Thorberg, a project manager and a Navy veteran, said many of his friends and two of his children had to stop working when Walz ordered businesses to close during the coronavirus pandemic.

He also said Walz did “a terrible job” handling

helped launch her into Democratic stardom, would have been the first Black woman to serve as a governor in the United States if she had won.

Abrams spent the four years since her defeat laying the groundwork for another run. She formed a forceful voting rights advocacy group — Fair Fight Action — and built her own personal wealth as Democrats gobbled up her books and paid to attend her speeches.

Her national profile was so high that she was considered as a possible running mate for Biden or even a candidate for president herself. That helped Abrams outraise Kemp with the help of a state law that allows candidates for governor to accept unlimited contributions through an associated committee.

Abrams raised $85 million through Sept. 30, but even Kemp’s $60 million would have by far been a record for a governor’s race in Georgia, as he sought to build a national fundraising base. And Abrams’ financial advantage was never enough to run away with the race — Kemp has led in polls throughout.

Abrams, 48, rolled out a campaign that she once described as “rife with plans,” including a big pay raise for teachers, legalizing casino and

Schultz tried to avoid talking about abortion. “I’m pro-life and I’m not ashamed of that,” he said, but accused Ellison of using the issue as a distraction.

the unrest that followed George Floyd’s death.

“He let precincts burn. He told the National Guard to stand down at certain times. He let people tear down statues at the Capitol. I mean, the list goes on and on,” Thorberg said.

“I just don’t think those things were right.”

sports gambling to pay for more college aid, expanding Medicaid health insurance, aiding small and minority-owned businesses, and making housing more affordable. At the same time, Abrams pledged to tighten Georgia’s gun laws and roll back abortion restrictions, arguing Kemp was far from moderate.

“The most dangerous thing facing Georgia is four more years of Brian Kemp,” Abrams said in an Oct. 17 debate.

Roughly 7 in 10 voters also identified the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion as an important factor in their vote. About a quarter of voters described it as the single most important factor; these voters were more likely to cast a ballot for Warnock and Abrams.

Kemp launched frequent attacks on Abrams, accusing her of not supporting police. A sizable majority of voters identified crime as a factor in their how they cast ballots, AP VoteCast found. More than 8 in 10 voters described it as an important issue. And roughly 8 in 10 Georgians say they’re concerned about crime in their own communities Associated Press writer Sudhin Thanawala contributed to this story. Amanda Seitz contributed from Washington, D.C.

Walz

photo/Evan Vucci Maryland Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore is seen in this Aug. 26, 2022 file photograph during a rally hosted by the Democratic National Committee in Rockville, Md. Moore faces Republican Dan Cox in the Nov. 8, 2022 general election.

Letitia Wright hit the Marvel Cinematic Universe scene as King T’Challa’s joyfully witty younger sister in 2018’s blockbuster “Black Panther.” But in the new sequel, the actor’s usual easygoing character delivers a more serious tone while dealing with grief.

Wright’s character takes center stage as Shuri who ventures into womanhood after the death of T’Challa. She’ll be looked upon to take the iconic Black Panther mantle in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which releases in theaters Friday.

Chadwick Boseman, who played T’Challa died in August 2020.

In between “Panther” films, Wright took on a few movie projects that exercised her dramatic acting chops.

“I always try to do things that are outside the box and what people wouldn’t expect,” said Wright, who starred in dramas “The Silent Twins” and “Aisha.” She also stars in “Surrounded,” which releases next year. The actor said each of those projects challenged her enough to “stretch me as an artist.”

“That naturally helped me grow a lot more,” said the actor, whose Shuri character also appeared in “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” as Wakanda’s princess and chief scientist. “We know Shuri as the fun, vibrant sister of the first film. … But in the film, we really followed that journey of womanhood for her.”

Wright credits director Ryan Coogler for ushering Shuri’s maturation along in his rewritten script following Boseman’s unexpected death from colon cancer. The director carried an even heavier burden to deliver a strong script — especially after “Black Panther” broke box office records, earned $700 million domestically during its theatrical run and became the first superhero film nominated for best picture

at the Academy Awards.

For the “Black Panther’’ follow, Coogler had developed a screenplay centered around T’Challa grieving lost time following Thanos’ snap in “Avengers: Infinity War,” which caused a five-year “blip.”

But after Boseman’s death, Coogler and filmmaker Joe Robert Cole went back to the drawing board. They worked up a script that delved more into the concept of Wakanda’s grief in the wake of T’Challa’s death.

Coogler said Boseman’s family signed off on his character’s “respectful” death in “Wakanda Forever.” In the new film, the Wakandans are put in a peculiar spot to protect their nation without T’Challa against a new nemesis, Namor, a sub-marine Talocan leader who has extraordinary mutant-like abilities and can fly with the aid of tiny wings on his ankles. Namor is played by Tenoch Huerta.

“This script was born of the truth in our lives that we had lost Chadwick Boseman,” said Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Nakia, a war spy and T’Challa’s lover. She said the characters dealt with T’Challa’s loss differently in the film.

“For me personally, I was relieved that we got to speak our truth,” Nyong’o said. “We got to express the grief that we were feeling and put it to good use.”

Wright and Nyong’o said they used their grief over Boseman to fuel their performances, while Coogler

said his mournful remembrance of the late actor helped motivate him through his writing and directing process. The director said several photos of Boseman were posted on set, and a prop master put inside Coogler’s trailer a shield and spear that T’Challa held during a duel with Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger at Warrior Falls in “Black Panther.”

Before filming the project, the entire cast — including the newcomers — visited Boseman’s burial site. It turned into a bonding moment.

“We tried to make a movie to honor the legacy of Chadwick,” Huerta said. “The movie is about grieving. It was happening at the same time as reality. They were able to integrate what was happening in real life into fiction. Art is kind of therapy. It helped us deal with the reality and things we can’t understand.”

The cast leaned on each other during the filming process, which had several setbacks and obstacles.

Production took longer than expected after Wright was injured while filming a stunt, and several cast and crew members tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Wright was attacked for sharing an anti-vaccination video, and Coogler was briefly handcuffed by Atlanta police after being mistaken for a bank robber earlier this year.

“We certainly had bumps in the road, but people

Moore, the vice president of production and development at Marvel Studios. He was a producer on the “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Eternals” and executive producer on “Black Panther.”

Moore said the filming experience of “Wakanda Forever” was the toughest, but he said the whole cast and crew showed resilience through adversity.

“They didn’t pull apart,” Moore said. “If it were a different filmmaker, who didn’t have such great relationships with everybody, we would’ve seen a lot more partition from the crew, which we didn’t

really. The cast could’ve gotten frustrated with the stopping and starting that we were forced to do, but they didn’t. They believe in what this movie was about and Ryan’s vision. As hard as it was, we had each other.”

Nyong’o said cast members comforted each other in grieving Boseman while attempting to keep the kingdom of Wakanda moving forward.

“It was joyful and sometimes it was hard,” she said. “But there was a lot of levity as well, because we had so many powerful, joyful memories of Chadwick to share with one another.”

pulled together,” said Nate

photo/Scott Garfi

Letitia Wright poses for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ in London, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022.

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