Reporter for @StarTribune covering politics. From St. Paul, but a @UW Husky. Email: [email protected]
Minneapolis, MN
Joined May 2011
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I think it's bad that my coworkers are losing their jobs.
We need everyone, including a huge chunk of our editors, to make a good, trustworthy product in a world that is increasingly slop content.
Walker Orenstein retweeted
KSTP/SURVEYUSA: There’s a shift toward Democrats in our final poll as more respondents self-identify as D or leaning D. Still a lot of undecideds that combined with margin of error will likely make these races much closer. @kstp
Walker Orenstein retweeted
JD Vance cancels Friday trip to St. Cloud startribune.com/vice-preside…
Michele Tafoya walked away from a dream job to find her political voice.
The latest in our series on formative political moments.
"I think there was a fire burning inside her to speak out,” said Fred Gaudelli, who hired Tafoya for Sunday Night Football.
startribune.com/michele-tafo…
For Peggy Flanagan, her mom skipping meals shaped a belief that gov't should help struggling families.
“I get to pay that back and pay that sacrifice forward through public service and the public programs that were available to my family,” Flanagan said.
startribune.com/what-shaped-…
Hot Dish Nation, Briana is on vacation so I am so incredibly back!
Let's storm some barns together this weekend as you read about Klobuchar sticking with the 23 trifecta on abortion, Tafoya having to dodge her own voters in White Bear Lake and more:
startribune.com/hot-dish-amy…
Walker Orenstein retweeted
Mystery political mailers target Tafoya, promote Libertarian Senate candidate. By @_sofiabarnett: startribune.com/michele-tafo…
Walker Orenstein retweeted
Minnesota Republicans are outspending Democrats for the first time in recent memory as they try to wrest control of state offices from the DFL and defy national headwinds in next week’s midterm elections.
From our politics team:
startribune.com/mn-gop-repub…
"The F.B.I. and Department of Homeland Security investigated the marriage in summer 2016, during the Obama administration, and found some evidence that it was fraudulent, current and former officials said."
nytimes.com/2026/10/29/us/im…
Four years ago, MN Republicans opened a Somali community center in Minneapolis. Scott Jensen, who was the GOP candidate for governor, called on his party to “join hands with the Somali community.”
Now he calls GOP rhetoric this cycle "hateful in nature."
startribune.com/mn-campaign-…
“I think we need to have the ability to call out crime, whether it is fraud or violence or what it is,” said House Speaker Lisa Demuth, adding that Democrats are using accusations of racism as a distraction from “the real issue.”
startribune.com/mn-campaign-…
Mystery political mailers target Tafoya, promote Libertarian Senate candidate. By @_sofiabarnett: startribune.com/michele-tafo…
Great stuff here from Sofia:
"Rebecca Whiting was milking cows on her farm Wednesday when she learned that a political organization she had never heard of was distributing campaign mailers featuring her name and phone number." startribune.com/michele-tafo…
The experience that shaped Lisa Demuth’s view of government — and its limits.
“I believe that we should take care of the most needy amongst us. But we also don’t want that as a permanent condition.”
By @bbierschbach: startribune.com/mn-governor-…
The family crisis that forged Amy Klobuchar’s political awakening.
“It did make me realize that democracy means something,” she said, “and you can get something done.”
By @bbierschbach: startribune.com/mn-governor-…
Minnesota Republicans are outspending Democrats for the first time in recent memory as they try to wrest control of state offices from the DFL and defy national headwinds in next week’s midterm elections.
From our politics team:
startribune.com/mn-gop-repub…
“I can’t tell you the last time Republicans outspent Democrats” in Minnesota, said Preya Samsundar, a GOP operative who formerly worked for the Republican National Committee. “We usually get outspent five to one, sometimes 10 to one.”
startribune.com/mn-gop-repub…
Well that's certainly a different result than most polling we've seen
NYT/Siena poll | 10/19-10/26 LV
US Senate Minnesota 2026
🟦Peggy Flanagan 54%
🟥Michele Tayofa 40%
Link to poll: nytimes.com/2026/10/28/upsho…
