When it comes to fundraising for his re-election campaign, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter maintains a sizable lead over the four other mayoral candidates, though challenger Kaohly Her has wasted no time in raising campaign cash.

Carter announced Tuesday that he was entering the final two months of the mayor’s race with more than $212,000 in cash on hand from nearly 800 citywide donors, representing “his strongest ever eight-week position” in a political race, according to a written statement from his campaign. Four years ago at this time, he had about $69,000 on hand.

The mayor’s official campaign finance filing with Ramsey County Elections showed he had raised about $216,000 from Jan. 1 through Sept. 8, compared to $157,000 in the same period in 2021.

Donors have included Charlie Zelle, outgoing chair of the Metropolitan Council; Matt Majka, chief executive officer of the Minnesota Wild; former city finance director John McCarthy; St. Paul City Council Member Molly Coleman; former professional soccer player Tony Sanneh of the Sanneh Foundation; and Jay Cowles of Cowles Media.

Additional donors have included developers Mike Ryan, Chris Sherman, Carl Kaeding, James Stolpestad and Steve Wellington; the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters; St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455; Sprinkler Fitters Local 417; Plumbers Local 34; St. Catherine University president Marcheta Evans; and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Challenger Kaohly Her’s donors

Her, a state representative and former City Hall employee, has raised more than $74,000 for her campaign and had $63,000 on hand as of Sept. 4, according to her latest campaign finance filing with Ramsey County.

Her two filings to date have listed nearly 200 donors since the recent launch of her campaign. They include developer Ari Parritz, Can Can Wonderland and St. Paul Brewing owner Rob Clapp, University of Minnesota Regent Bo Thao-Urabe, former St. Paul City Council Member Jane Prince and state Rep. Dan Wolgamott, DFL-St. Cloud.

Donors have also included Summit Avenue bikeway opponent Robert Cattanach, Summit Hill Association executive director Monica Haas, MayKao Hang, founding dean of the Morrison Family College of Health at the University of St. Thomas, Mo Chang of Mo’s Tropical Wholesale and a sizable number of additional members of the Hmong community.

Campaign finance reports were due to Ramsey County Elections on Tuesday, eight weeks before the Nov. 4 election. Another report is due Oct. 21, two weeks before the election.

The other candidates who have filed to run in the ranked-choice election are biophysicist Yan Chen, business owner Michael Hilborn and mechanical engineer Adam Dullinger.

Hilborn’s eight-week report indicated he had raised about $22,000 — most of it from donors outside of St. Paul or Minneapolis — and spent more than $21,000 as of this week, leaving about $700 in campaign cash on hand.

No other eight-week reports were available online as of 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

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Service workers at the University of Minnesota are going on strike following the rejection of the school’s latest labor contract.

The workers are members of Teamsters Local 320, which represents more than 1,400 employees who clean buildings, prepare food and handle other tasks across the university’s five campuses.

“We want a fair contract, and we’re very close. I still think, I hope, this can be resolved, and we can go back to our day-to-day being at the university,” said Grady Johnson, a union steward and gardener at the Twin Cities campus.

The workers’ strike began Monday night on the Crookston and Morris campuses and expanded to Duluth and satellite campuses Tuesday morning. Workers at the Twin Cities campus were to join the strike Tuesday night.

Union members vote to strike

The union’s current contract expired June 30, and negotiations have been ongoing since late March. Union members filed an intent to strike Aug. 7, with initial plans for the strike to begin Aug. 20, just as students were returning to the Duluth campus.

The university put forth a new contract — its last, best and final offer — on Aug. 19, and the strike was put on hold so workers could consider the contract.

Votes were held across campuses leading up to the Sept. 5 deadline, when the contract offer expired. With an 82% majority, union members voted to reject the offer, citing frustrations over annual wage increases and changes to the contract’s expiration date.

“The University likes to talk about all the uncertainties that they’re facing, but we are facing significant uncertainties as workers as well,” said Kayli Staubus, who works as a cook at the U’s Duluth campus and served on the union’s negotiation committee. “If there are cuts and belt-tightening that needs to be done, there are other places that can happen, besides our bargaining unit, which is some of the absolute lowest-paid workers on campus.”

U officials site financial pressures

In response to Friday’s vote, University officials stated that current financial pressures have played a role in union negotiations this year, but it remains committed to prioritizing faculty and staff members. The U’s Board of Regents raised tuition 6.5% earlier year and cited flat funding from the state as well as federal cuts as contributing to overall fiscal challenges.

“The University must balance the needs and desires of Teamsters Local 320 members with the University’s obligation to its many stakeholders to be good financial stewards, particularly given the financial challenges we are facing,” Gregg Goldman, executive vice president for finance and operations at the U, said in a statement last week.

The Teamsters union includes cooks and other food service workers, as well as groundskeepers, janitors, parking attendants, maintenance workers, mechanics and more.

“We are all over campus. Basically, every kind of service position that there is, is performed by Teamster staff,” Staubus said. “So there’s going to be a huge gap in the student experience until the university makes this right. Obviously, we don’t want that.

“We’re out here for a living wage job that people can afford to stick with for the duration, and retire from someday,” she said. “That’s what we’re here to win.”

University officials have said plans are being developed to ensure that “vital services” on campus continue.

Last offer

The university’s last offer included a 3% pay raise and two lump sum payments of $500, to be paid out in fall 2025 and July 2026. Union members would also see a minimum 2% pay increase the following year.

Shift differentials, or added pay for employees working non-standard hours, also were increased as part of the Aug.19 contract. Additionally, the university’s offer included an extension from six to 10 weeks for how long an employee can be on leave before their job is optioned for reassignment.

Certain jobs and senior positions were offered an additional pay increase over the next two years as part of market adjustments, including a 0.5% increase for employees at the top of the pay scale.

Union members have held out for a 3.5% pay increase for all members, matching the annual wage adjustment granted to the university’s Graduate Labor Union earlier this year.

Concerns over wage increases and the change to the contract end date have become the biggest “sticking points” in negotiations, Staubus and Johnson both said. In the past, the Teamster contract ended in the summer, giving members time to organize outside of the school year.

However, in this negotiation cycle, the university has pushed for a December expiration date, with the last offer optioning for a year-and-a-half-long contract, concluding Dec. 31, 2026.

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By AAMER MADHANI and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was trying to walk a delicate line following Israel’s attack on Hamas officials in Qatar, distancing himself from the strike Tuesday but stopping short of condemning Israel for carrying out an audacious strike on the soil of another major U.S. ally.

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Trump said the unilateral action directed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “did not advance Israel or America’s goals.” He offered notably muted pushback, however, even suggesting “this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for peace.”

“This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump said on social media hours after the strikes.

Trump is seeking to soothe concerns of a Gulf ally that has played a key role in mediating between the U.S. and Iran and its proxies, including during talks with Tehran-backed Hamas as the war with Israel in Gaza grinds on. The U.S. also has about 10,000 troops stationed at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, an installation that serves as the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command.

The president said he directed special envoy Steve Witkoff to warn Qatar of the impending attack in the capital, Doha, after learning about it and that Witkoff was quick to call Qatari officials. But the U.S. alert was, “unfortunately, too late to stop the attack,” Trump said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari refuted in a post on X that the Qataris were given any warning from the U.S., saying it came just as “the explosions from the Israeli strikes were being heard.”

Qatar has sought closer ties with Trump

The Qataris have sought to deepen their relationship with Trump since his return to office. They have even gifted Trump a $400 million Boeing 747 jet that is to be retrofitted into a new Air Force One. Trump has said the plane will be donated to a future presidential library once his term ends and put on display as a museum piece.

“I view Qatar as a strong Ally and friend of the U.S., and feel very badly about the location of the attack,” Trump said on social media.

President Donald Trump speaks to the White House Religious Liberty Commission during an event at the Museum of the Bible, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

At the same time, Qatar, a wealthy nation with expansive natural gas and oil reserves, has faced scrutiny for its support of Hamas. Prior to the Israel-Hamas war, Doha for years sent millions of dollars per month to the Gaza Strip to prop up Hamas’ governing structure. Qatar has also hosted leaders of the Taliban and the Muslim Brotherhood.

In a carefully worded statement, Trump also made clear that “eliminating Hamas” was a “worthy goal.”

Trump’s effort to try to assuage Qatar without criticizing Israel comes as he struggles to find an endgame to the nearly two-year-old war in Gaza and win the release of 48 hostages, about 20 who are believed to still be alive.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaking at a briefing earlier Tuesday, did not say how long before the Israeli strikes that Qatar was warned.

She, like Trump, also did not address whether there was any concern that the Qataris could, in turn, have forewarned Hamas leaders that the Israeli strike was coming. Hamas says its top leaders survived the Israeli strike and that five lower-ranking members died.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Israeli warning to the US described as vague

The U.S. military was notified about the Israeli strike ahead of time through military channels, but a U.S. official described that notification as very vague.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss sensitive matters, said the notification included the fact that the Israeli military was going to attack Hamas but did not include specifics like a location, which made it insufficient to allow for any timely follow-on warnings to countries in the region.

Israel perfunctorily warning the U.S. ahead of operations has been an aggravation for much of the war, according to a former U.S. government official who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomatic issue. Frequently, the official said, Israeli notification “consisted of them calling someone at the embassy or at the Pentagon when planes were already in the air.”

Yet, with a strike this sensitive, the official said, it was difficult to believe Israel had not at least received tacit approval from the U.S. before moving forward with the operation.

White House and State Department officials did not respond to requests for comment about the timing or substance of Witkoff’s warning to Qatar.

Jonathan Schanzer, a former counterterrorism analyst at the U.S. Treasury Department, said the White House’s public comments may be in part an effort to help Qatar save face and keep its relations steady with the United States.

“It’s damage control,” said Schanzer, who is executive director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington. But he added that the strike could affect the Qataris and their relationship with Hamas moving forward.

“There’s a lot of taking stock right now by all parties,” he said.

Trump talks with both sides

Trump spoke with Netanyahu and Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and other Qatari officials following the strikes.

“I assured them that such a thing will not happen again on their soil,” Trump said of his conversation with Qatari officials.

Leavitt demurred when asked if there would be any consequences for the Israelis or Netanyahu for the strike that she suggested was unexpected by U.S. officials.

Trump posted on social media Sunday a cryptic warning to Hamas hinting at a new American proposal to exchange all the remaining hostages for Palestinian prisoners and end the war in Gaza.

“I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting,” Trump said. “This is my last warning, there will not be another one!”

Asked if Trump had been hinting at the Doha strike, Leavitt replied, “No, he was not.”

The lore that young quarterback J.J. McCarthy already has about him has been built up through tales from his life that perfectly encapsulate the competitor he is at his core.

There was the time at Nazareth Academy when he led his teammates to an Illinois state championship despite playing with a broken thumb in his throwing hand. Then the time at Michigan when he chose not to wear his signature eye black in the rivalry game against Ohio State because he wanted head coach Ryan Day to see his face when he beat him.

Now there’s another story to add to the list after McCarthy authored an impressive comeback in his NFL debut.

Never mind that he struggled for prolonged stretches on Monday night at Solider Field. He stepped up when his teammates needed him most, leading the Vikings to a dramatic 27-24 win over the Chicago Bears.

The defining moment for McCarthy came shortly after halftime when he threw an interception that Nahshon Wright returned for a touchdown. That would’ve been enough to make most players lose their composure.

Not McCarthy.

After taking a few seconds to settle himself down on the sideline, he walked back into the huddle, looked his teammates in the eyes and asked them a simple question, saying, “Where else would you rather be?”

It was a reminder from McCarthy to his teammates — and maybe even to himself — of how lucky they were to be on that stage. Though he had never uttered that phrase to his teammates at any point, McCarthy explained he felt it was the right thing to say given the situation.

“A smile goes a long way, and there were a lot of smiles after that,” McCarthy said. “Just a little bit of a perspective shift.”

It was exactly what the Vikings needed to hear from their leader. If he wasn’t rattled after making such a big mistake, they damn sure better not be. That instantly snapped everybody back to reality and made anything feel possible.

“I’m like, ‘You’re (expletive) right. There’s no place else I’d rather be,’” running back Aaron Jones said. “That gave all of us a sense of motivation and reminded us to be present.”

The conviction in McCarthy’s voice might have been more important than the words. His teammates couldn’t help but believe in him when they saw how much he still believed in himself.

“He knows how to have that dawg mentality,” Justin Jefferson said. “He never gave up. That was the big thing about it. He just kept going.”

As memorable as that exchange in the huddle was in hindsight, however, it would’ve been nothing more than a corny footnote had McCarthy not found his rhythm. The most powerful part was the fact he almost immediately backed up his words with actions to erase the deficit and flip the game.

Whether it was threading the needle on a touchdown pass to Jefferson, demonstrating his improved touch on a touchdown pass to Jones, or showing off his athleticism on a touchdown run that proved to be the difference, McCarthy was otherworldly down the stretch.

In the process, McCarthy proved that he’s somebody the Vikings can believe in, which is something many people already knew about the 22-year-old that exists more or less as a living legend in his hometown of La Grange Park, Ill.

“We don’t win this game unless J.J. plays the way he did,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “Now we know it’s possible.

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