Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Trump Really Wants This Messy MN Man To Run the DoD
There’s a lot of bad stuff out there about Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host from Forest Lake, Minnesota, and Trump’s current nominee for Secretary of Defense. There are the 2017 sexual assault allegations, the leaked email from 2018 where his mother called him “an abuser of women,” and all kinds of reports of him day drinking on the job, which at the Senate confirmation hearing today Hegseth called “anonymous smears.”
There may be even more incidents and scandals, but according to this story in the New Yorker by Jane Mayer, Trump and his gang are doing everything they can to suppress the findings of an FBI report and threatening to sue any witnesses or victims who speak with the press.
“I’m deeply concerned by an apparent pattern of intimidation and threats, whether it’s legal action or reputational harm. They’re playing the hardest of hardball,” says Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). “My Republican colleagues are unsettled, and some genuinely feel scared and intimidated.”
While Hegseth claims to be a completely different man these days, one source in Mayer’s piece recalls an awkward 10 a.m. breakfast meeting back in 2023 where Hegseth downed three gin and tonics ("I don’t know how he could pass a security clearance. But they’re trying to create a culture where whistle-blowers are uncomfortable coming forward."). Former Fox host Greg Kelly recently pointed out that Hegseth’s tendencies to slap an NDA on accusers make him vulnerable to blackmail.
In Hegseth's corner is former St. Paul mayor, former U.S. senator, current Saudi lobbyist, and perpetual embarrassment Norm Coleman. Today Coleman called called Hegseth "an out of the box nominee," which is certainly one way to describe a potential Defense Secretary who won't rule out ordering U.S. troops to fire on unarmed protesters.
If Hegseth makes it through what, so far, has been a pretty grim Senate confirmation hearing, it would take four Republican “nays” to kill his hope of leading the world’s most powerful military.
What the Heck Is Going on at the MN House?
The first day of Minnesota's 2025 legislative session is off to a great start: a DFL boycott in the House of Representatives. There are layers to this story folks, so buckle up.
In November, incumbent Rep. Brad Tabke (DFL-Shakopee) managed to win by 14 votes. During tabulations, however, 20 ballots were accidentally tossed in the trash. Republicans contested the results; testimony from voters whose ballots were affected show this didn’t impact the outcome. This morning a judge ruled that Tabke’s election is valid, so that's good news for DFLers.
But wait! Things got even messier in December, when a judge ruled that elected Rep. Curtis Johnson (D-Roseville) did not meet the residency requirements for the position. That seat will still likely be filled by a DFL candidate after a special election, but we won't know until voters figure that out on January 28. In the meantime, Republicans hold a 67-66 majority.
With that in mind, the GOP didn’t want to hold their horses, and decided to use that temporary one-seat advantage, despite Secretary of State Steve Simon ruling that, with DFL members absent, there weren't enough people for a quorum. Republicans promptly voted to rule his decision “out of order,” then elected House GOP Leader Lisa Demuth speaker of the chamber. That’s now how any of this works!
”In this moment of deep division and polarization, the stakes have never been higher. The leader we choose must possess extraordinary qualities to navigate the challenges ahead of us today,” Rep. Dave Baker (R-Willmar) says of his polarizing decision to nominate Demuth, which could be ruled illegitimate in court.
“What Republicans are doing on the House floor right now is an unlawful sham with no legal authority,” a House DFL spokesman says in a statement.
Still have questions? Yeah, that makes sense. The Minnesota Reformer's J. Patrick Coolican has answers for you in this handy guide to the session's topsy-turvy start.
Make Minnesota Iowa Again?
If Minnesota was a belle at a debutant ball, its dance card would be completely full. Ontario Premier Doug Ford recently quipped that he’d love it if Trump let Canada buy Alaska, Minnesota, and Minneapolis. A few years ago western Minnesota flirted with leaving us for the Dakotas. And now some dude in Iowa wants a piece of us. Iowa Sen. Mike Bousselot (R-Ankeny) introduced a bill today proposing that his state purchase nine southern Minnesota counties. Wait, what?
"It’s about 180,000 people that would become Iowans," he says. "They’d have a little bit more money in their pocket to buy Minnesota gear. They could still buy Gopher gear. But it would also not change the electoral math. And that political sensibility is important for a Democrat-led Senate, a Democrat governor and a split-control Minnesota House."
Well, at least he’s up on our current politics.
Midtown Global Market Gets a Sports Bar
Sports bars are kinda having a moment in Minneapolis! The Lyn-Lake area has two newish ones, Beckett’s and Tender Lovin' CHX (both of which join the long-running Iron Door Pub), and Longfellow recently got A Bar of Their Own, an all-women sports spot that has been doing gangbusters business since opening last year. Upscale sports bars like Namos Restaurant & Lounge and The Rabbit Hole are heading for downtown Minneapolis; Daniel del Prado just opened an "elevated" sports bar called Dexter's near 50th and France.
Now, Midtown Global Market is getting one: Game Time Sports Bar & Arcade. A press release sent out Tuesday morning states that the menu will include stadium hits like “giant pretzel with smoked gouda cheese sauce, street corn loaded tots, and peanut butter bacon dogs.” There will also be beer and cocktails. Game Time, which is moving into the former Eastlake Craft Brewery space, will be run by five friends, including Hosie Thurmond of Slice Brothers Pizza. It's set to open February 9.
