By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press

Wendy’s plans to close hundreds U.S. restaurants over the next few months in an effort to boost its profit and make its remaining stores more appealing.

The Dublin, Ohio-based chain said during a conference call with investors Friday that it planned to begin closing restaurants in the fourth quarter of this year. The company said it expected a “mid-single-digit percentage” of its U.S. stores to be affected, but it didn’t give any more details.

Wendy’s ended the third quarter with 6,011 U.S. restaurants. If 5% of those locations were impacted, it would mean 300 store closures.

The new round of closures comes on top of the closure of 240 U.S. Wendy’s locations in 2024. At the time, Wendy’s said that many of the 55-year-old chain’s restaurants are simply out of date.

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Ken Cook, Wendy’s interim CEO, said Friday the company believes closing locations that are underperforming – whether it’s from a financial or customer service perspective – will help improve traffic and profitability at its remaining U.S. restaurants.

Cook became Wendy’s CEO in July after the company’s previous CEO, Kirk Tanner, left to become the president and CEO of Hershey Co.

“When we look at the system today, we have some restaurants that do not elevate the brand and are a drag from a franchisee financial performance perspective. The goal is to address and fix those restaurants,” Cook said during a conference call with investors.

Cook said in some cases, Wendy’s will make improvements to struggling stores, including adding technology or equipment. In other cases, it will transfer ownership to a different operator or close the restaurant altogether.

U.S. fast food chains have been struggling to attract lower-income consumers in the past few years as inflation has raised prices. Cook said he expects lower-income consumers to remain pressured for the rest of this year.

In the first nine months of this year, Wendy’s said its U.S. same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, fell 4% compared to the same period last year. Wendy’s revenue fell 2% to $1.63 billion in the same period, while its net income fell 6% to $138.6 million.

Cook said $5 and $8 meal deals — which have been matched by McDonald’s — have helped bring some traffic back to its U.S. stores. But Wendy’s isn’t doing a good job of bringing in new customers, Cook said, so the company plans to shift its marketing to emphasize its value and the freshness of its ingredients.

Wendy’s shares dropped 7% Friday. On Monday, they were down 5% in afternoon trading.

Tommy Chicago’s Pizzeria in Mendota Heights is closing after 18 years in business.

The restaurant, known for its Chicago-style, deep-dish pizza, has been a family affair, said co-owner Katie Magnuson, who has worked alongside her husband and brother-in-law since the restaurant opened in 2008. All four of her children learned to make pizza dough and sauce from scratch there, too.

The eatery is deeply ingrained in the community, catering to everything from high school sports parties to church bingoes to Vikings players and coaches to the University of Minnesota football team.

In addition, they’ve named three of their pizzas after regular customers who happen to be celebrities: The Joe Mauer (a BBQ chicken pizza), the Vince Flynn (pickle and sausage) and the John Gagliardi (a deep-dish pepperoni).

Magnuson said they’ll miss serving their regular customers, but it’s time to retire.

A note to customers on the restaurant’s website says:

“For the past 18 years, we have been honored to serve you, our community. We’ve celebrated countless team pizza parties, birthdays, anniversaries, and special moments within these walls. Your support has meant the world to us, and we are eternally grateful for the memories we’ve created together.”

The restaurant’s last day will be Dec. 20, so there’s plenty of time to grab one last pie.

Tommy Chicago’s Pizzeria: 730 Main St., Mendota Heights; 651-209-7701

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Republican Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth has picked former state auditor candidate Ryan Wilson as her running mate for her campaign for governor in the 2026 election.

Wilson, the founder and former chief executive of a clinical trials company who has worked as an attorney for Minnesota Republicans in election lawsuits, came closer in 2022 to defeating a Democratic-Farmer-Labor incumbent in a statewide race than any other GOP candidate.

Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth. (Courtesy photo)

At a Monday Capitol news conference announcing his candidacy for lieutenant governor, Wilson said he “didn’t hesitate” to join Demuth because he agreed with her priorities, which include fighting fraud in state government, improving education outcomes, and taking a tougher stance on crime and public safety.

“Four years ago, I campaigned across this state meeting with Minnesotans of every walk of life,” he said. “I heard how they worked hard for their tax dollars, for their money, and they wanted to know that it was going to help families and not fraudsters. They wanted to know that their money was going to schools to make their classrooms better and not get lost on bureaucrats.”

2002 election

In the 2022 election, Wilson faced State Auditor Julie Blaha and received 47.13% of the vote to Blaha’s 47.47%. Just 8,435 votes separated the candidates in the closest statewide race. Blaha is not running for a third term in 2026.

“Ryan’s success in being the closest statewide race this last election when he ran for state auditor let us know that Minnesotans were looking for a change,” Demuth said. “We are building a strong team early on.”

Demuth and Wilson’s announcement comes ahead of a statewide tour this week to promote their vision for Minnesota. Demuth hasn’t shared any specific policy proposals yet, but on Monday she said to “stay tuned.”

Wilson lives in Maple Grove with his wife and four children. Earlier this year, he represented the Republicans in their efforts to secure power in the closely divided House, where voters delivered a 67-67 tie between the parties in the 2024 election.

A power struggle ensued when a Roseville candidate who won didn’t take his seat after Republicans successfully challenged his residency in court. Wilson was part of the team of attorneys who argued before the state Supreme Court.

Demuth, 58, represents a district to the south and west of St. Cloud. This year, she made Minnesota history as the state’s first Black House speaker and first female Republican to serve in that role. Members selected her as speaker as part of a power-sharing agreement between the GOP and DFL.

Demuth launched her gubernatorial campaign last week, becoming the fourth GOP candidate in the 2026 race. A primary election to pick the party’s nominee is scheduled for August. The Minnesota Republican Party also holds a convention to endorse a candidate before the primary. Demuth has said she would honor the endorsement.

Other Republicans running for governor in 2026 include 2022 gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen, a doctor who rose to prominence for his criticism of state COVID policy; state Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove; and 2022 Republican endorsement contender Kendall Qualls, a former congressional candidate.

Demuth and Wilson have said they would welcome an endorsement from President Donald Trump. Wilson backed Trump in past elections and said he continues to do so today.

“President Trump is our president and he’s delivering on a lot of promises,” Wilson told reporters. “We’re seeing, for example, the southern border being fixed, and that’s having effects here in Minnesota today. So, yes, we stand by the president, and I stand by my past support of him.”

Walz, who is seeking an unprecedented third consecutive four-year term as governor, has not named a running mate for 2026. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is running for a U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by Sen. Tina Smith next year and isn’t appearing on the ballot with Walz.

So far, Walz is the only DFLer running for governor in 2026.

No Republican has won a statewide election since 2006, when then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty won a second term. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton was elected in 2010 and served from 2011 to 2019. Walz followed.

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By NICHOLAS RICCARDI and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The pardons of dozens of Republicans accused of participating in efforts to overturn the 2020 election are a continuation of President Donald Trump’s attempts to rewrite the history about his election loss.

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They come months after Trump’s sweeping grant of clemency to all 1,500-plus people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which was the culmination of the campaign to reverse Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Unlike the Jan. 6 pardons, the newer ones will have little legal effect. None of the people on the new pardon list had faced federal prosecution for their actions in 2020. The presidential pardon has no impact on state or civil cases.

But they send a signal to those thinking of denying future elections in Trump’s favor.

Here’s a look at some of the more prominent names who were pardoned:

Rudy Giuliani

FILE – Rudy Giuliani speaks to the media outside Manhattan federal court in New York, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

The former New York City mayor, who was celebrated as “America’s mayor” after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, played a pivotal role in pushing Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud as the Republican’s personal lawyer in 2020. He has faced a slew of legal woes and financial setbacks for his advocacy of Trump’s false claims, including losing his law license in Washington and New York. He was criminally charged in cases brought by state prosecutors in Georgia and Arizona and pleaded not guilty. Those cases have hit roadblocks but remain unresolved and are not impacted by Trump’s pardon. Giuliani was ordered in 2023 to pay $148 million to two Georgia election workers who sued him over lies he spread about them and a reached a deal in January to resolve the debt and retain some of his property. The amount the women were set to receive was not disclosed. Giuliani has denied wrongdoing and said he was right to challenge an election he believed was tainted by fraud.

Mark Meadows

FILE – White House chief of staff Mark Meadows speaks with reporters at the White House, Oct. 21, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Trump’s chief of staff during the 2020 election and its aftermath, Meadows was charged in Arizona and Georgia cases and pleaded not guilty in both states. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his effort to move his case in Georgia to federal court, where a pardon would nullify his jeopardy. Meadows has contended his post-election actions were taken in his official capacity as White House chief of staff, though prosecutors and judges have disagreed. Meadows was on the phone when Trump asked Georgia’s secretary of state, Republican Brad Raffensperger, to “find” him enough votes to be declared the winner of the state.

Kenneth Chesebro

FILE – Kenneth Chesebro speaks to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee during a hearing where Chesebro accepted a plea deal from the Fulton County district attorney at the Fulton County Courthouse, Oct. 20, 2023, in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, alleged that Chesebro, an attorney, worked with Georgia Republicans at the direction of Trump’s campaign to organize 16 people to sign a certificate falsely claiming that Trump won the state and that they were his “duly elected and qualified” electors. Chesebro pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count in the state case but unsuccessfully tried to withdraw his plea as the massive case against him and 17 others, including Trump, collapsed due to legal issues. Chesebro’s law license in New York state was suspended after his plea.

Jenna Ellis

FILE – Jenna Ellis, a member of President Donald Trump’s legal team, speaks during a news conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters, Nov. 19, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

A prominent conservative media figure and an attorney, Ellis also pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings in the Georgia case. She apologized in court for advising the Trump campaign on how to overturn its loss and was censured and barred from practicing law for three years in her native Colorado for her conduct in 2020.

John Eastman

FILE – John Eastman, a California law professor, speaks to reporters after the Supreme Court hearing on Birthright Citizenship outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

A prominent conservative law professor, Eastman wrote a key memo outlining the Trump strategy of trying to reverse the president’s election loss by presenting a slate of alternate electors to Congress. Eastman faces charges in a state case filed by Arizona’s Democratic attorney general over that scheme. He was also charged in Fulton County, and the disciplinary board of the California State Bar has recommended he lose his California law license. Eastman has pleaded not guilty in the criminal cases and appealed his license suspension to California’s Supreme Court. He argues he is being punished for simply giving legal advice.

Jeffrey Clark

FILE – Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, in Oxon Hill, Md., Feb. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Clark, as a Justice Department official in the first Trump administration, drafted a letter that said the department was investigating “various irregularities” and had identified “significant concerns” that may have impacted the election in Georgia and other states. Clark wanted the letter sent to Georgia lawmakers, but Justice Department superiors refused. A Washington attorney disciplinary panel in July recommended that he be stripped of his law license, finding he made “intentionally false statements” when he continued to push for the Justice Department to issue the letter after being told by superiors that it contained falsehoods. Clark, who is now overseeing a federal regulatory office in the second Trump administration, said in a post on X on Monday: “I did nothing wrong when I questioned the 2020 election in Georgia.”

Sidney Powell

FILE – Attorney Sidney Powell, an attorney for Donald Trump, speaks during in Alpharetta, Ga., Dec. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)

A lawyer and staunch Trump ally, Powell filed in battleground states a series of lawsuits that were rejected by courts and played a pivotal role in pushing unsubstantiated claims of fraud. Emails and documents obtained through subpoenas in one lawsuit showed Powell was involved in arranging for a computer forensics team to travel to rural Coffee County, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta, to copy data and software from elections equipment there in January 2021. She pleaded guilty in 2023 to reduced charges in the Georgia case, becoming the second defendant to reach a deal with prosecutors. She was initially charged with racketeering and six other counts but ultimately received probation after pleading guilty to six misdemeanors accusing her of conspiring to intentionally interfere with the performance of election duties.