Minnesota candidates try to avoid the cloud of outside, outsized figures
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Outsized figures, especially those mired in controversy or unpopular, can have an outsized role late in a campaign.
In Minnesota, several races are being colored by people not on the ballot. Republicans are trying to move out of President Donald Trump’s shadow, Democrats are distancing themselves from Gov. Tim Walz, and middle-of-the-road Democrats are recoiling as further left candidates bring in divisive figures like internet streamer Hasan Piker.
Piker’s scheduled appearance Monday night in Minneapolis has given Republicans an opening to question whether Democrats are willing to call out their left flank and split Democrats about whether it’s appropriate to have him.
The prospect of a presidential visit, which Trump has hinted at, equally has some Republicans trying to escape his low ratings.
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Trump towers over GOP
Ads attacking Republicans, including governor candidate Lisa Demuth and Senate candidate Michele Tafoya, are rife with mentions of Trump.
Many are trying to keep the president at arms length. For Tafoya, a recent presidential endorsement isn't something she's touted. When asked about it, she's answered: "I heard about that.”
It's a long way from when candidates were loudly touting Trump's endorsement. In her ads, Tafoya aimed to show herself as independent of the president.
“I’m a pro-choice Republican,” she says in one ad. “I’m not afraid to stand up to my party. When Trump is right, I’ll work with him, when he’s wrong I’ll stand up for Minnesota.”
Last week, Tafoya was asked by FOX News whether she'd welcome Trump coming to Minnesota.
"I don't know anything about his schedule. I'm certainly not in charge of his schedule,” Tafoya said. “What I am looking for is to bring people together in this campaign, whether they voted for Trump, whether they voted for Kamala Harris or whether they didn't vote at all because they felt disenfranchised. That is the ultimate endorsement for me."
Pressed about if it would help or hurt her race to have Trump in town, Tafoya didn’t give a firm answer.
"Look, again, I think for some people it might, and for some people it might not,” Tafoya said.
Republican governor nominee Demuth has said she'll address that if and when an event is scheduled.
Walz puts DFLers on defensive
Similarly for Democrats, Walz has been kept at a distance or even been a target for candidates from his party.
He hasn’t been on the campaign trail in his signature red buffalo plaid shirt this fall. Instead, he's been doing political fundraising events, but mostly out of state.
Unlike the dilemma Republicans face with Trump, whose term runs through 2028, Walz's term ends in early January.
Democrats have worked to separate themselves from Walz — especially when it comes to fraud. Ads attacking DFL governor nominee Amy Klobuchar and DFL U.S. Senate nominee Peggy Flanagan are trying to do the exact opposite. Flanagan has the harder task as second-in-command to Walz for two terms.
During a candidate forum in Brainerd, Klobuchar tried to make the distinction between herself and Walz obvious.
"As for Tim Walz, I have been very clear. I would have caught that fraud. I would have done something about it,” she said. “We have very different backgrounds. Secondly, when they had that surplus, I would have used it to pay for things that aren't as sexy, like infrastructure, get this technology done, and do things like that. I would have clearly not pardoned a sex offender."
Flanagan has been asked a lot about Walz and her role in the administration when it came to issues of fraud. She answers that she had no oversight role in any of the fraud cases.
She told WCCO Radio’s Jason DeRusha that she won't be pairing up with Walz for the final push.
"He hasn't been on the campaign trail with me. He's not going to be on the campaign trail with me. This is about the Peggy Flanagan for U.S. Senate campaign,” she said.
Divisive streamer’s visit
It’s not just the top statewide races facing these kinds of dilemmas.
Monday night’s Piker visit is creating tensions. The leftist online video streamer is due to appear with U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar at an event hosted by DFL state Sen. Omar Fateh.
Piker is popular with the far left flank of Democrats. But he's also an extremely divisive figure.
That's due to controversial statements he's made about Israel, about the Sept. 11 terror attacks and his condemnations of U.S. politicians from both parties.
Republicans have broadly criticized it, and tried to link his appearance to all Democratic candidates in the state more broadly.
But several prominent Democrats, including Klobuchar, have condemned Piker's rhetoric. Some officials have called for the event to be cancelled.
A spokesperson for Omar defended it, saying the congresswoman is “laser focused on turning out the vote.”
“Early voting among people under 40 is down, and we need to do everything to get young people to the polls,” a statement from the Omar team said.
U.S. Rep. Angie Craig posted on X: “As Democrats, we constantly criticize the far-right for their incendiary and discriminatory politics, but we need to hold ourselves to the same standard. Hasan Piker’s rhetoric is polarizing and dangerous, and embracing him as a party is a mistake.”
The event sold out quickly.
