1 Minnesota Senate race could determine Capitol balance of power
The battle for 134 Minnesota House seats will determine the balance of power in that chamber which Democrats now control with a six-seat majority. However, just one race in the Minnesota Senate will determine who controls that chamber and whether or not Republicans can grab at least a share of power from the DFL “trifecta.”
“This one election will determine the majority in the Minnesota state Senate,” says DFL Senate candidate Ann Johnson Stewart. “So it is a pretty big race.”
“Pretty big” is an understatement. When former DFL Sen. Kelly Morrison resigned her District 45 seat to run for Congress, the DFL majority dropped to a 33-33 tie with Republicans. That means control will now be determined by the race between Johnson Stewart and Republican Senate candidate Kathleen Fowke.
“With 33 Republicans and 33 Democrats in the Senate, it is so important that we bring back balance to Minnesota,” Fowke told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS as she knocked on doors to talk with voters in Excelsior. She says she’s running to help Republicans provide a check on the recent 40% increase in state spending and higher taxes and to be a watchdog over how money is spent.
“Look at what happened with all of the fraud,” she says, referring to the Feeding our Future fraud case. “Two-hundred-fifty million dollars got spent and didn’t go where the money was intended.”
Johnson Stewart says she’s running to continue the work the DFL trifecta did in the last two years after eliminating gridlock. She says voters she talks to at the door like what the DFL has done for education, transportation and reproductive rights.
“People are still really concerned about reproductive freedom and abortion rights,” she told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. “They are concerned.”
Fowke says she will not seek a ban on abortion but wants women to know there are options other than abortion.
Johnson Stewart is endorsed by Planned Parenthood and Education Minnesota. Fowke is endorsed by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association and the National Federation of Independent Business.