MINNETONKA/WAITE PARK/EDINA, Minn. — Candidates for Minnesota's top political offices made their last efforts Monday to win over voters and get them to the polls.
But many Minnesotans may not need that push at this point — Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said Monday that “there is a lot of energy around this election.” His office reported 886,427 absentee and mail ballots had already been accepted by Monday — a record for early votes in a midterm election.
The 2022 general election had 792,581 absentee voters, and while it was a presidential election year, the 2024 general election had about 1.5 million absentee voters, according to the secretary of state.
Republican Michele Tafoya, running for U.S. Senate against Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, voted Monday, Nov. 2, in Edina. She said she feels “great” and now plans to “try” to chill until Tuesday with her dog.
“We have heard from Minnesotans that they are tired. They are tired of the fraud. They are tired of the career politicians. They want something fresh and new, and we've offered that to them,” Tafoya said.
Flanagan, about 13 minutes away from Tafoya, riled up a crowd of DFLers at one of the final Get Out the Vote DFL bus tour stops in Minnetonka.
Flanagan said the choices in these races are clear: “They [the DFL candidates] are on your side, right? Not on the side of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans.”
“And that is the choice in the race for U.S. Senate, too, because Michele Tafoya has been endorsed, as you heard, multiple times in the last couple of weeks by Donald Trump,” she added.
One of Flanagan’s main campaign strategies against Tafoya has been to tie her to President Trump and his policies.
In recent weeks, Tafoya has inched away from Trump despite receiving his endorsement, and said Monday it’s herself and Flanagan on the ballot, not Trump.
“And only one of us failed this state for eight years,” Tafoya said. “That's what people should be focused on. She does not deserve a promotion. She deserves a pink slip.”
Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth, running for governor against Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, cast her vote Monday in Waite Park, and planned to make a few more stops Monday.
Her final message to voters: “If you want change, I am the best person to bring that change.”
“That means respecting the people of Minnesota by protecting us from further fraud and making our state affordable, and just absolutely just changing the state,” Demuth said.
Klobuchar, at the DFL bus tour stop in Minnetonka, made similar pitches, outlining her plans for combating fraud, affordability and healthcare. Similarly to Flanagan, she pointed to the federal government’s tariffs, war in Iran, and healthcare cuts.
“All of these headwinds coming at us, they may be a constant, but they can never be an excuse for [inaction] in the state of Minnesota. And that is why I am running for governor,” Klobuchar said.
The DFL is set to make one more stop on their tour Monday night in St. Paul.
Tuesday's election will be historic no matter who wins, because Minnesotans are set to elect their first woman as governor. Minnesotans haven’t elected a Republican to statewide office in 20 years.
St. Cloud LIVE reporter Jack O'Connor contributed to this report.