There are no words to adequately condemn the abuse of power, and intentional cruelty that’s escalating in Minnesota right now. In the face of everything we are witnessing, it’s human to feel grief, rage, and fear.
We’re sorry to say that this is one of the scenarios that our team began planning for before election day 2024 — and hoped would not arrive.
And, at the same time, we must acknowledge that even armed with the policies that could mitigate some of what we’re seeing right now, Minnesota state lawmakers have more limited power to respond in this moment than we’d like. Their House majority and a governing trifecta were also lost by a single seat in 2024. So even as lawmakers prepare to return to session and introduce popular policies that could protect Minnesotans from federal abuses, they do not have the power to pass them. This is the impact of losing elections.
Wednesday, the Trump administration announced that ICE is also deploying in Maine. There, state lawmakers have a real opportunity to pass policies that will prevent school days from being disrupted and ensure doctors and nurses in hospitals are able to provide lifesaving care without interruption. They also aim to give people more control over which private companies buy and profit from their personal data.
These policies only have a chance because this community has worked cycle after cycle since 2017 to build and defend the trifecta that exists in Maine today. The majorities you helped build are taking meaningful action to stop federal abuses.
The way our country is being torn apart is because of an election — President Trump won because he was more popular with voters. The amount of power that state lawmakers have to respond to their constituents and make a different vision real is determined by elections again this November.
The best way to win is to be more popular. This is the work we are doing together — and winning majorities starts now, not in November.
Thank you for being our partner in the states.
