Minnesota set to elect first female governor

And welcome back to our election night coverage here on Fox 9. We want to bring in some expert analysis now. So political contributor Pat Kessler is joining us as we get ready for polls to close in a couple of hours. Yeah, the day is finally here, Pat. A lot of races that we are keeping our eyes on for tonight. The biggest one in Minnesota, the top of the ticket. We're talking about the governor's race here, a historic one. Whatever happens, it is historic. Yeah, this has been very tumultuous, and yes, a history-making night tonight, because whoever's elected governor will be Minnesota's first woman governor in the history of the state of Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar, the Democrat running against Lisa Daimuth, the Republican. Now, Amy Klobuchar is well-known in Minnesota. She's a four-time U.S. senator. She has held this seat since 2007, and she's always won with double-digit margins. This year might be a little different. Republicans have put up a slate of credible candidates for the first time in many, many years. Lisa Daimuth is the Speaker of the House for the last couple of years, and they were really tough times in the Minnesota House. She presided over a 67... ...to 67 tie, only the second time in history that that has happened. So she has deep legislative experience. Also, she worked out a power-sharing agreement. with Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated, as we know, about a year ago. So a lot of tumultuous times in the last few years here in Minnesota. Governor Walz stepping down. All of that has to do with Amy Klobuchar running, Lisa Daimuth. So we're looking forward to that race tonight. You think about all that Minnesota has gone through, yes. Yeah, it's really something. And then Minnesota always has a great track record for getting people out to vote. Early voting has become more popular, and the numbers are really high this year. What does that say to you? People are just taking advantage of it. Do you think we're going to see a big, big number in terms of voter turnout? You know, I want to talk to more people about this because it's unusual. This is shattering. All of the records we have here in Minnesota, more people have come out to vote in this midterm election than we've ever seen before, either in person or mail-in voting. I think it's true that it's easy to do. It's easier to go out when you want to in the last few weeks and go and vote in person. But you can also mail in your vote, and so that's always good. But I think people might be motivated in Minnesota also. Maybe we're seeing a cultural shift where people are starting to get out a lot more than they did. But they're motivated because I think this election, it's very big in the state. This is going to be a referendum on President Trump for the last couple of years in Minnesota. The Iran war, tariffs, high gas prices. But it's also, I think, going to be a verdict. The voters are going to render a verdict on Governor Walz and Democrats and how they have governed in the last couple of years. And all we've heard over this election campaign... Is fraud, fraud, fraud. So I think that is going to be part of it as well. Deeply unpopular president. Governor Walz doesn't have much popularity right now either. And both of those are going at each other. Amy Klobuchar. Lisa Daimuth, it's going to be interesting to watch. And we have seen the president, you know, travel to different places across the country to, you know, basically say vote Republican all across the ticket. We mainly saw it here in Minnesota when it came, when it comes to the Senate race, not necessarily the governor's race, but he did say vote red all down the ticket. Do you think that that will have some sort of influence? You know, it's an interesting question because I think the Republican candidates by and large did not want. President Trump involved in this election, certainly in the Senate race with Michelle Tafoya, the Republican candidate. She was holding the president at arm's length because when the president has the historically low popularity, it might hurt your campaign more than it helps it. So that's one of the big issues here. President Trump now has a popularity rating that is the lowest since President Harry Truman. In 1946. So that's saying something. And so they don't really want him here for that. But can you get those voters out? The president says that if he appeals to these voters, these MAGA red voters in red districts, maybe they'll come out. We haven't seen it yet. Maybe we will, but we haven't seen it yet. Do you see any differences with Minnesota compared to other states that are electing a governor tonight in undercurrents? There's a national conversation, people talking about affordability, you know, for example. For example, but And gas prices and all of that, but in Minnesota, we've just been through so much as a state that so you see this election differently when it comes to the race for governor, maybe compared to other states? Yeah, you know, I actually do. I think the Democrats, particularly in the Senate race, are underperforming here because of all the fraud in welfare programs and social programs that we have here in Minnesota. So Democrats have been underperforming. On the other hand, this has been really traumatic for the state of Minnesota, So going back to COVID, George Floyd, the assassinations, of Melissa Hortman, Metro surge. Those are all things that I think voters have on their minds right now. We have a huge turnout of early voting in Hennepin County, which could indicate that people were very, very concerned about what happened here for a couple of months when federal troops came into the metro area in Minneapolis and occupied the city for a couple of months. And I think people are still really concerned about that. We may see the result of that tonight. Yeah. Politics, it's complicated in Minnesota. It is, and traumatic right now. PTSD for a lot of people. Yeah, so many events that have maybe changed people's minds. Absolutely. Which we'll see. All right, Pat Kessler, go get some coffee. Yes, we're going to have it all night long. It'll be great. It's going to be awesome. Okay, thanks, Pat.