Minnesota

Minnesota has contested court races on the ballot this fall. But don't expect battles like Wisconsin's.

Published

7 months ago

June 27, 2024

Minnesota has contested court races on the ballot this fall. But don't expect battles like Wisconsin's.

For the first time in years, Minnesotans will have more than one choice for judge in multiple races on the ballot this fall.

Nine races for judgeships out of 103 total have more than one candidate registered to run, including two contested seats on the Minnesota Supreme Court. Last election cycle, only one judge in the entire state faced a challenger on the ballot.

Even with a handful of contested races this fall, it’s unlikely any will rise to the high-profile judicial battles seen next door in Wisconsin, where a 2023 race that flipped the state’s high court from a conservative to a liberal majority attracted more than $50 million in spending.

Several factors keep the tone tamped down in judge races in Minnesota, including institutional norms, a historically weak bench of challengers and a lack of high-profile cases before the state’s highest court that have spurred opposition, said Herbert Kritzer, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota Law School.

“Groups have not felt that they have a need to get involved in Minnesota Supreme Court elections, and that’s because Minnesota has not had to make any controversial decisions on abortion, and there’s not been significant tort reform legislation challenged before the court,” said Kritzer, who has studied judicial retention across the country. “There’s also no death penalty in Minnesota; that becomes a very hot topic in many other states.”

In Minnesota, judges run for six-year terms to the bench in nonpartisan elections, but it’s rare in the state for someone to win an open election for a judgeship. Most judges retire partway through their term and allow the governor to appoint their replacement. Once appointed, the judge must run in the next general election more than one year after their appointment.

Incumbent judges are noted on the ballot, but political affiliations are not. While candidates can seek political party endorsements, a judicial code of conduct in the state discourages many political activities, and discourages candidates from discussing their views on issues or how they might rule on a case. Many candidates in Minnesota stick to that code.

That’s very different from Wisconsin, said Kritzer, where candidates run in open elections more often than Minnesota and are often strongly associated with a political party. In the 2023 race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, candidates gave their views on the 2020 election results and abortion.

Timing could also be a factor. Minnesota’s judicial contests line up with the state’s regular election calendar, meaning they’re on the ballot with other high-profile races in November. Wisconsin’s judicial races are in the spring, giving each contest more attention.

In other states, business groups frustrated by Supreme Court decisions on regulations have often been behind efforts to recruit and back strong candidates for judicial races, but that hasn’t happened in Minnesota, said Kritzer.

There is a challenger to Minnesota Supreme Court Associate Justice Karl Procaccini, who served as Gov. Tim Walz’s general counsel during his first term in office and taught at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. Walz appointed Procaccini to the court last August, putting him on the ballot in November.

“There was some speculation that someone would put up a challenger because he was so involved in pandemic decisions,” said Kritzer.

Procaccini is facing Matthew Hanson, a Prior Lake attorney who has worked in trusts, estates and commercial litigation. Hanson was the lone challenger to any judge in 2022, and that’s part of why he’s running again.

“Democracy requires a choice, and when you can’t vote for someone else, why even vote?” he said. “I wanted to bring more attention generally to judicial elections.”

Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson is also facing a challenge, from Stephen Emery, an attorney who has run for other state offices. There’s one contested Court of Appeals race and six contests for district judges that have more than one candidate, including a five-way race in the Sixth Judicial District.

Kritzer expects there to be more emphasis on them as U.S. Supreme Court rulings kick more issues back to the states.

“State supreme courts are now more or less the last word on abortion and on legislative redistricting,” he said. “I expect there to be more of a focus on them, particularly if those kinds of issues are coming before the court.”

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Minnesota

How to get tickets for Minnesota Vikings vs. LA Rams NFC Wild Card playoff game

Published

6 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

How to get tickets for Minnesota Vikings vs. LA Rams NFC Wild Card playoff game

The final game of the NFL’s Wild Card weekend is set to take the Minnesota Vikings to LA to face the NFC West champion Rams Monday night at SoFi Stadium. The game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET, and tickets are still available to catch the action live.

How to get Vikings vs. Rams NFC Wild Card tickets: Seats are available for the NFC Wild Card matchup between the Vikings and Rams on secondary sites Vivid Seats, StubHub, SeatGeek and Viagogo.

As of Jan. 9, the starting prices were as follows:

Vivid Seats starting at $87
StubHub starting at $92
SeatGeek starting at $92
Viagogo starting at $91

#5 Minnesota Vikings (14-3) at #4 Los Angeles Rams (10-7)

NFC Wild Card Playoffs

When: Monday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT)

Where: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Calif.

The Vikings had a shot to win the NFC’s top seed in Week 18, but fell short against the Detroit Lions, losing the NFC North Division and slipping to the No. 5 spot instead for a road matchup on Wild Card weekend. They are listed as 1-point favorites against the Rams after finishing the regular season with a 14-3 record and nine straight wins prior to last weekend’s 31-9 loss in Detroit. Though all the ingredients are in place for the Vikings to make a run, just three of their 14 victories this season came against playoff teams and one of their three losses came to the Rams (30-20) back in Week 8.

Minnesota Vikings vs. Los Angeles Rams NFC Wild Card tickets: Vivid Seats | StubHub | SeatGeek | Viagogo

The Rams found their way through an injury-marred start to the season and closed it out strong with five straight wins before resting starters in a Week 18 loss to the Seattle Seahawks (30-25). The highlight of that stretch and their season as a whole was a 44-42 shootout win over the Buffalo Bills that was fueled by two Kyren Williams touchdown runs and a big day from the receiving duo of Puka Nacua (12-162-1) and Cooper Kupp (5-92-1). The same combination of playmakers around quarterback Matthew Stafford are central to LA’s path to victory against Minnesota.

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If Arizona hosts Los Angeles Rams vs Minnesota Vikings due to fires, it wouldn’t be a first

Published

13 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

If Arizona hosts Los Angeles Rams vs Minnesota Vikings due to fires, it wouldn’t be a first

There could still be one more football game played in Arizona this season. On Wednesday, the NFL announced that it has a contingency plan to potentially move Monday night’s wild-card game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams to State Farm Stadium due to ongoing wildfires raging across Southern California.

For now, the league is preparing for the game to take place at SoFi Stadium, the Rams’ home in Inglewood. But if a change of location is deemed necessary, the Cardinals’ stadium in Glendale would play host, giving Arizona its first playoff game — excluding Super Bowls — since the 2015 divisional round.

It would, however, not be the first time that NFL teams have had to move to Arizona. Here are the other times that similar moves have occurred:

2020: San Francisco 49ers

Due to the spread of COVID-19 in the fall of 2020, Santa Clara County briefly banned all contact sports. That forced the San Francisco 49ers to play three home games at State Farm Stadium. The team used fields near the stadium as its practice facility and stayed at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel and Spa across the street.

2007: San Diego Chargers

It would not be unprecedented if the Rams had to make Arizona home due to fires. The then-San Diego Chargers practiced at the Cardinals’ Tempe facility for three days in 2007 due to the Witch Creek Fire, which forced 40 members of the organization to evacuate their homes. The team returned to San Diego for their game that Sunday, defeating the Houston Texans.

2003: San Diego Chargers

Four years earlier, the Chargers had a Monday Night Football game against the Dolphins moved to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. Again, the move was due to fires in Southern California, which caused poor air quality. The Chargers’ home field, Qualcomm Stadium, was also used as an evacuation center during the fires. Both teams flew to Arizona on game day for a game Miami won, 26-10. The NFL distributed 73,104 free tickets to the game.

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Minnesota

Boston Fleet fall to Minnesota Frost in overtime

Published

21 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Boston Fleet fall to Minnesota Frost in overtime

Taylor Heise scored the overtime winner to lift the Minnesota Frost to a 2-1 victory over the Boston Fleet on Wednesday night

The win is the Frost’s third in as many games this season against the Fleet, and the second in seven days by an overtime finish. Hannah Bilka scored early on for the Fleet, making this the first time Boston has opened the scoring against Minnesota this season.

Later in the first period, Denisa Křížová scored her first goal of the campaign, tying the game at one and ending the game’s regulation scoring. Heise’s winner came at 3:20 of the extra frame on Minnesota’s first shot of overtime on Emma Söderberg, who stopped 24 shots throughout regulation. Maddie Rooney picked up her fourth win of the season with a 26-save performance.

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