MA Rothman notes: An incumbent who canโt crack 45% in his own reelection bid is in trouble, and new numbers out of Minnesota show Attorney General Keith Ellison is in exactly that position.
A KSTP/SurveyUSA poll released this week has Ellison in a ๐๐๐๐-๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐๐-๐๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ with Republican challenger Ron Schutz, with 15% of voters still undecided. Two weeks ago, Ellison led the same matchup by eight points.
The collapse comes as Minnesota faces a federal investigation into ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ฅ๐ฒ $๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง in Medicaid and welfare fraud โ one of the largest such schemes uncovered in any state, with dozens already charged. Ellison, whose job is to prosecute exactly this kind of crime, was pressed on Capitol Hill about whether heโs actually leading the criminal investigation.
โ๐๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ข๐ถ๐ฅ, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต?โ
โ๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ.โ
โ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.โ
That non-answer is now polling at 43%. Schutz leads among voters 35 and older; Ellisonโs remaining strength is concentrated among younger voters who werenโt paying attention when the fraud broke.
Of course, Ellison is the same person who prosecuted Derek Chauvin and three other Minneapolis police officers for trying to save George Floydโs life.ย Ellison managed a prosecution that was successful because the jurors were coerced into to voting to convict.ย If Schutz can manage to win, it would be interesting to see internal documentation on the Chauvin persecution.
More attacks on the First Amendment.
Californiaโs Democrat-controlled legislature has passed a bill that critics say does one thing: protect taxpayer-funded fraud from ever being filmed.
What is the most powerful source of evidence?ย It is evidence that one can see.ย Such evidence does not depend on the ability of someone to sell via a verbal presentation.ย California wants to end that possibility for exposing fraud.
Assembly Bill 2624, authored by Assemblywoman Mia Bonta โ wife of California Attorney General Rob Bonta โ creates new privacy protections for โimmigration support serviceโ providers, their employees, and volunteers. Publish an unauthorized photo or video of one of them with the โwrongโ intent, and youโre looking at civil liability, ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ$๐,๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ฌ, attorneyโs fees, and potential criminal penalties.ย In other words, if seeing a video of your fraud hurts your feelings, you can have the videographer arrested and collect civil damages from that person or entity.
Republicans have a simpler name for it: the โStop Nick Shirley Act.โ Shirley is the independent journalist whose undercover camera work has repeatedly caught government-funded nonprofits mishandling public money. Instead of investigating the fraud he documented, Sacramento wrote a law aimed at stopping him and anyone else who might want to do the same thing.ย This is the typical Democratic playbook.
Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio warned the bill would ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ง ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ and shield taxpayer-funded organizations from public scrutiny. ย Democrats call it protection from โtargeted political violence.โย Apparently, according to the Communists Democrats, exposing fraud is now targeted political violence in California.
James OโKeefe on Thursday released undercover video of an Anchorage, Alaska, poll worker offering him Senator Lisa Murkowskiโs brotherโs ballot.
Recall that RINO Murkowski was one of the Senators who opposed theย SAVE America Actย which would require voter ID.
โI did not check in as Brian Murkowski, cast a ballot, or sign his name. We documented what happened when I gave his name, said I had no ID, and asked whether Brian could still vote,โ James OโKeefe said.
OโKeefe had done the same thing in Minnesota.ย Minnesota wants to prosecute him for this even though he did not cast a ballot.ย Sen. Murkowski wants to do the same thing now.ย Letโs be reminded that the Senator opposes the SAVE America Act because it would unduly burden people.ย Hmmm.
July 27, 2026: Lindsay Clancyโs murder trial formally began with opening statements at Plymouth Superior Court.
August 10, 2026: Gov. Maura Healey signed the Massachusetts law strengthening and expanding abortion protections, allow the procedure on pregnancy that is older than 24 weeks.
August 20, 2026: Hundreds of women in pink gathered outside the courthouse in support of Clancy as the trial continued.
