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Capitol View®
Briana Bierschbach

Daily Digest: Who is Lori Swanson?

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Hello, it's hump day and maybe one of the toughest days of the week. Let us help you get through it with some reading about -- you guessed it -- state politics!

1. Erin Murphy on the issues. As governor, DFL-endorsed candidate Erin Murphy said she would support moving the state to a single-payer healthcare system, legalizing recreational marijuana and raising taxes or fees to pay for transportation infrastructure. Murphy, a state representative from St. Paul, is in a competitive, three-way DFL primary race with U.S. Rep. Tim Walz and Attorney General Lori Swanson. On the Republican side, endorsed candidate Jeff Johnson and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty are competing in the primary. Murphy sat down with MPR's Kerri Miller for an hour on Tuesday ahead of the Aug. 14 primary. See what they talked about. (MPR News)

2. Who is Lori Swanson? It was a last-minute entrance into a three-way DFL primary for attorney general that launched Lori Swanson’s political career more than a decade ago. Since then, she has quietly built a statewide profile as Minnesota’s chief consumer protection advocate, taking on big companies in court for allegedly ripping off the little guys. It’s this carefully constructed public profile that’s already become an asset to her in a DFL primary for governor, with the two other top candidates, U.S. Rep. Tim Walz and state Rep. Erin Murphy, just now introducing themselves to a statewide audience. In internal polls from two campaigns, Swanson is leading in the race. But little else is known of Swanson, an atypically private politician who runs a tightly-controlled office and makes few public appearances. When sexual harassment allegations emerged this month against a former staffer in the office of her running mate, Rick Nolan, the hashtag #WhereIsLori cropped up on social media after more than 24 hours without a response. As she steps out into the race for governor, an open seat with high stakes for both sides, it’s already put more scrutiny on her positions and record as attorney general. The race will also introduce her to a larger audience that simply wants to know: Who is Lori Swanson? (MPR News)

3. Paul Thissen, now officially a member of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Former Minnesota House Speaker and former candidate for governor Paul Thissen was sworn in as Minnesota's newest state Supreme Court justice during a ceremony at Landmark Center in St. Paul on Tuesday. Thissen has been an attorney with some of the area's top law firms and represented Minneapolis in the legislature until this past spring. Gov. Mark Dayton chose Thissen to fill an open seat on the court, after former Justice David Stras was confirmed to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals. Thissen said he is looking forward to the challenges and rewards of his new job. (MPR News)

4. Duluth lawmakers call on Rick Nolan to resign from Congress. Seven Duluth policymakers are calling on U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan to resign from Congress in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against a former staffer in his office. In a letter Tuesday afternoon, three Duluth city councilors, a state senator, a county commissioner and several school board members — all men — said Nolan should resign from his seat in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. Nolan, a Democrat who announced earlier this year that he is not seeking re-election to Congress, still has six months left in his term. He is currently running for lieutenant governor alongside Attorney General Lori Swanson. (MPR News)

5. Why there have been so few debates in the Minnesota governor’s race so far? As a general rule, political candidates who are ahead (or think they’re ahead) don’t want to debate. While engaging with a rival has the potential of boosting a front-runner’s standing, it can also provide an opportunity for a trailing candidate to be heard and seen and take the leader down a bit. Being aggressive is the best way for the underdog to accomplish all three — so a leading candidate usually avoids such settings. Candidates who are behind want to debate for all the reasons above. And they use a public expectation that debates are a traditional feature of campaigns to try to entice or cajole the opponent into a face-to-face confrontation. It is not uncommon for trailing campaigns to hire a guy in a chicken suit to troll the front-runner’s public appearances. So it is with both halves of the 2018 primary for governor of Minnesota. The few voter-preference polls that have been available indicate that former Gov. Tim Pawlenty is ahead of Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson for the GOP nomination. On the DFL side, Attorney General Lori Swanson is ahead of U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, with state Rep. Erin Murphy third. (MinnPost)