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By Sydney Kashiwagi

The Minnesota Star Tribune

Hi again. I’m anchoring another D.C. Dish today because I had too much news to share, specifically related to Minnesota campaigns.  

So here goes.  

Another no in the Senate race. Secretary of State Steve Simon won’t run for the U.S. Senate, his office confirmed with me. His decision makes him the latest, and possibly the last, big name Democrat to pass on running for retiring Sen. Tina Smith’s seat.  

Simon joins Club I'm Taking a Pass with other heavy hitters: Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Dave Wellstone, the son of late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone, who were all weighing bids themselves but ultimately opted out. 

Simon’s decision means the Democratic field may be just about set to a three-way contest between Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and former state Sen. Melisa López Franzen.  

What will Simon do? Will the three-term secretary of state seek a fourth term? Or vie for something else?

A gubernatorial run is possible. DFL sources say Simon is thinking about the governorship, but only if Walz says he's not seeking a third term. 

“If Tim Walz was not to run for governor, Secretary Simon would run for governor in a heartbeat,” one DFL source said. 

“There's no way he'll primary Walz,” another source close to Simon said, also confirming Simon’s interest in a gubernatorial bid. 

Yes, no, maybe so. Though his team confirms he’s not running for Senate, they aren’t confirming or denying whether he’ll make a play for the governor’s race. Simon’s campaign spokesperson was not able to provide a timeline on when he’ll make a decision on a re-election bid for his current position. 

“It’s great that there’s interest in this very important job in Minnesota and in the country, but Steve is very much still focusing on his work to protect democracy and the rights of Minnesotans,” his campaign spokesperson Risikat Adesaogun said when asked if Simon is considering a gubernatorial run. 

Other Dems are weighing SOS bids. As he and Walz continue to mull their future, DFL sources say at least two folks are interested in the secretary of state job if Simon doesn’t run.  

One is and Ben Weisbuch, the chair of the Minnesota DFL Jewish Community Outreach Organization, who told me: “I am considering a run for SOS but would likely not run if Steve Simon chose to run for re-election.” 

Another is state Rep. Emma Greenman, DFL-Minneapolis, a voting rights attorney, who confirmed to me that people are encouraging her to run for secretary of state but would not say if she’s interested in the job.  

“When you do the work I do as a voting rights lawyer, particularly in this moment, [I] have lots of conversations, and lots of people encourage me to think about running,” Greenman said. 

DFL sources say Greenman would likely be the most formidable candidate if she did decide to run for secretary of state given her reputation as an election expert. She would be a candidate who could raise money, garner support from the progressive base in the party and keep any other state lawmakers out of the race, sources say. 

“[Greenman] would take the oxygen out of the room and most folks would get behind Greeman,” the DFL source said. Read more. 

The Minnesota Star Tribune

Will Angie Craig's House colleagues back her? Craig came out of the gate last week with some big endorsements in hand for her Senate bid. But she likely won’t get the backing of her colleagues in the U.S. House, so long as she’s running in a primary.

Rep. Betty McCollum said she bets on either Craig or Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in the Senate race, both of whom she’s close to. She made no mention of former state Sen.  Melisa López Franzen, the third Democrat in the race, in a statement she shared with me. 

“With the White House and Republicans in Congress sabotaging the economy, the federal government, and America’s future, our DFL nominee for the U.S. Senate needs to be tough, courageous, and a true reflection of Minnesota and our party’s values. I will not be endorsing this early in the U.S. Senate race (or the now-vacant U.S. House seat). Peggy is a dear friend. Angie is a valued colleague. I have campaigned for them both and either will win in the general election,” McCollum told me in a statement, adding that she thinks the DFL endorsement "will be the decisive factor in this race."

But McCollum also expressed concern about an "avalanche of outside special interest money potentially poisoning our DFL process."

Rep. Kelly Morrison also told me she won't endorse in the primary. However, when she reiterated she would not make an endorsement, Morrison only made reference to two candidates, even though there's technically three Democrats in the field.

"I'm not going to endorse in the primary. I'm a big fan of both of those candidates," Morrision told me during a brief interview on Capitol Hill. Though she only mentioned two unnamed candidates, her office claims she meant all three, not just two. 

Leaving López Franzen out. Morrison previously told me she won't endorse López Franzen, even though they are from the same area, which leads me to think that similar to McCollum, Morrison may be viewing Craig and Flanagan as the strongest Democrats in the field.

Meanwhile, Rep. Ilhan Omar also said she has no plans to make an endorsement in the race at the moment and thinks it's too early to say who the front-runner will be. 

“I think it’s too early to tell how the race will shake out," Omar said. "I know they’re all working really hard to introduce themselves.”

Reading the Omar tea leaves. Omar was not at Craig’s U.S. Senate campaign launch in Minneapolis over the weekend, which could be an indicator she may not back Craig as the race moves forward. Asked about Craig's decision to launch her campaign in Minneapolis she said: "I think that will probably be the toughest area for her."

The Minnesota Star Tribune

Walz heads to D.C. in June to testify. Walz has agreed to testify before the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee in June as it seeks to investigate whether Democratic cities and states are shielding undocumented immigrants from deportation and carrying out “sanctuary policies.”

Walz will be joined by fellow Democratic Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York during the June 12 hearing. The committee called on Democratic mayors to testify on the same topic in March.

The hearing comes as Minnesota communities are facing uncertainty amid President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Read more. 

Playing nice with Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited springtime D.C. yesterday on a charm offensive to meet with Trump at the White House amid rapidly deteriorating relations between the U.S. and its northern neighbor (not *yet* the 51st state), my colleague Christopher Vondracek reports. 

While Carney and Trump traded niceties (as well as a bit of gruff over those statehood notions), Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, took time after a visit with Sen. Amy Klobuchar to chat with business correspondent Vondracek about what he called the “uncertainty” that is hurting both countries.

“We’re both shooting our pucks on our own nets here,” Hyder said, alluding to the reporter’s Minnesota pedigree. American farmers, Hyder noted, rely on potash for fertilizer. Canadian-mined uranium powers America’s nuclear plants. “Our companies are so intertwined.”

Asked about that state chatter from Trump, Hyder told Vondracek, “It’s just noise.” He did credit Trump with one thing, however. “We’ve woken up in Canada because we don’t want to make us beholden to a single economy,” Hyder added.

The Minnesota Star Tribune

Back in Minnesota. State lawmakers are pushing forward several fraud prevention measures in the final weeks of their session, including proposals to establish a new Office of Inspector General and beef up the state’s existing Medicaid fraud investigation unit, my colleague Ryan Faircloth reports. 

They’re also considering giving state agencies authority to withhold payments from suspected fraudsters, and having the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor track whether agencies are implementing its audit recommendations.

The slate of proposals still in play ahead of the Legislature’s May 19 adjournment deadline comes in response to growing concerns about fraud in public programs. The largest pandemic-era fraud case in the country happened in Minnesota, with the nonprofit Feeding Our Future and other organizations stealing $250 million from a federally funded meals program for children. The FBI also has investigated fraudulent Medicaid claims in Minnesota’s autism program. 

“I think that Minnesotans are looking for a serious treatment of waste, fraud and abuse,” said state Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia. “The policies that have been voted off the floor of the House are going to be a giant step forward.” Read more.

Paid sick and safe leave policy. Six Democratic Minnesota senators broke with fellow DFLers on Monday and voted to exempt small businesses with fewer than four employees from the state's paid sick and safe leave policy and adopt other revisions critics argue weaken the law that took effect last year, my colleague Allison Kite reports. 

She reports that Sens. Nick Frentz, Grant Hauschild, Matt Klein, Rob Kupec, Aric Putnam and Judy Seeberger – members of the "Blue Dog Coalition" – voted for the bill, which passed 38-29 and now heads to the Minnesota House for consideration. Sen. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, broke with GOP colleagues and voted against the bill.

Seeberger, the chief sponsor of the bill, said while the 2023 policy improves protections for workers, she has heard reports of workers misusing it for vacations. She said she closed her law firm after mandates the DFL-led Legislature passed in 2023 and said other business owners are doing the same.

"If the Legislature can offer some help to our smallest of businesses," Seeberger said, "I think we should."

Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, noted senators have paid sick time and can vote on bills remotely if they cannot make it to the Minnesota Capitol.

"It is the height of ridiculousness for us in this chamber to sit here with all of our paid sick time, all of our paid leave, all of our ensured money and take away paid sick time from farm workers," Maye Quade said.

Speaking in favor of an amendment that exempted small farms from the policy, Sen. Andrew Mathews, R-Princeton, said the state's sick and safe time policy was putting pressure on farms. He said supporters of the bill were trying to relieve pressure from "outlandish government mandates."

Walz will visit a food shelf in Bloomington at 9:30 a.m. today to discuss the impacts of proposed SNAP cuts would have on Minnesotans.

And at 12:30 p.m. he'll meet with legislative leaders. 

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Students, educators and parents from across Minnesota will hold a rally to oppose cuts to nonpublic school funding. The rally will take place at the State Capitol Rotunda at 1:30 p.m.