Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth came out on top in a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor in straw polls held across the state Tuesday night at GOP precinct caucuses.

Of the 12 candidates listed on the ballot, Demuth had around 32% of roughly 17,600 votes cast by Republican voters at local party gatherings across the state. Results were incomplete, but more than 96% of precincts had reported as of early Wednesday afternoon.

The straw poll offers an early look into the 2026 contest for the GOP endorsement, and could inform candidates on whether they should remain in the race. The party describes participants as representing “the most politically active Republicans in Minnesota” and calls the poll the “first major test of grassroots support.”

Precinct caucuses are often described as the starting line for Minnesota elections.

Other candidates

In second place was Kendall Qualls, who had close to 26% of caucus-goers’ support. Qualls sought the GOP endorsement in 2022 and previously ran for Congress. Mike Lindell, MyPillow CEO and noted supporter of President Donald Trump, had 17% support.

Scott Jensen, a doctor who rose to prominence for his criticism of state COVID policy, had 6% of the vote. None of the other candidates had more than 1,000 votes in the straw poll.

The others listed on the ballot included businessman Patrick Knight, state Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, and former St. Cloud City Council Member Jeff Johnson.

Besides the straw poll, precinct caucuses also elect convention delegates and consider changes to party platforms. It’s the first stop on the way to the state party conventions in May.

What’s next?

The first caucuses kick off a series of spring conventions of growing scale and stakes. The first will be local organizational conventions, which handle endorsements for state Legislative candidates. Then come Congressional District conventions, where party members endorse candidates for the U.S. House.

The Republicans’ statewide endorsement convention for governor is scheduled for the last weekend in May in Duluth. Candidates don’t always honor their party’s endorsement and will sometimes advance to the August primary election, which officially determines the party nominee. Demuth has pledged to honor her party’s endorsement, though other GOP candidates, such as Lindell, have left their options open.

In a statement late Tuesday, Demuth thanked caucus-goers for giving her and running mate Ryan Wilson a strong start.

“In just three months since I announced my campaign for governor, our team has focused our efforts on organizing and empowering Minnesotans who are looking for a strong conservative and proven leader to get our state back on track after two disastrous terms of Tim Walz,” she said, then turning to her new Democratic-Farmer-Labor opponent. “We know Amy Klobuchar would give us nothing more than a rubber stamp Walz third term.”

As of the beginning of 2026, Demuth had more money on hand than any other GOP candidate for governor, with around $447,000. Robbins had about $353,000, though she had raised and spent more than Demuth did in 2025. Qualls, Jensen, Knight and Lindell were the only other candidates who had raised or spent six-figure sums.

Demuth is campaigning on fighting fraud in state government, improving education outcomes, and taking a tougher stance on crime and public safety. When Gov. Tim Walz announced his would not seek reelection, he pledged to seek stronger gun control laws and resist the Trump administration.

The parties held straw polls for gubernatorial races during district caucuses but not other races.

DFL caucuses

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party also held precinct caucuses Tuesday night, though they only have one major candidate for governor — U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

With 84% of precincts reporting as of early Wednesday afternoon, 79% of DFL caucus-goers supported her while 16% were uncommitted. The rest of the votes were write-ins, abstentions or in support of Christopher Seymore.

Klobuchar has performed well statewide in every election since she first won office in 2006 and has always led her Republican competitors by double-digit percentage margins. No Republican has won an election for statewide office since 2006.

While Klobuchar has not filed paperwork for her gubernatorial campaign committee yet — she officially entered the race in 2026 — she has a strong fundraising record. At the end of 2025, her Senate committee had more than $2 million on hand, according to Federal Election Commission filings. It had raised more than $2.4 million and had spent close to $2.2 million.

DFL Chair Richard Carlbom said he expected a significant turnout at Tuesday’s local party meetings as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown continues in Minnesota, something he called an “unprecedented retribution campaign.”

Total attendance at DFL caucuses statewide was roughly 30,000, the party said, claiming that many were first-time attendees.

In response to Demuth’s win at the precinct caucuses, Carlbom tied the Republican frontrunner to Trump, describing her as having “fully embraced the most destructive Trump policies” like tariffs and a hardline stance on immigration.

“As Trump unleashed his retribution campaign on Minnesota, Demuth defended Donald Trump instead of her state and blamed local law enforcement for the crisis,” Carlbom said in a statement. “She has continued to chase Trump’s endorsement — even as his

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agenda increases prices and explodes health care costs for Minnesotans. Lisa Demuth has chosen Trump over our state, and Minnesotans won’t forget it.”

Minnesota’s teachers union and two school districts are suing to block immigration enforcement at public schools.

In a civil complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, plaintiffs Education Minnesota and Duluth and Fridley public schools argue the enforcement has “caused direct and irreparable harm to the abilities of school districts and educators to fulfill their functions — to educate children and to provide access to educational services and a safe learning environment.”

The lawsuit seeks to stop immigration enforcement at or within 1,000 feet of school property or school bus stops “absent a judicial warrant or genuinely exigent circumstances.”

The complaint names the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and several of the agencies’ national and local leaders.

DHS, when asked for comment on the lawsuit, sent a statement from Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

“ICE is not going to schools to arrest children — we are protecting children,” the statement read. “The Trump administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement and instead trusts them to use common sense. If a dangerous illegal alien felon were to flee into a school, or a child sex offender is working as an employee, there may be a situation where an arrest is made to protect public safety. But this has not happened.”

Policy change

The lawsuit says DHS violated the Administrative Procedures Act when the agency rescinded its longstanding policy that designated schools and bus stops as a safe zone to be avoided when carrying out immigration enforcement. DHS did not engage in notice-and-comment rulemaking before repealing the policy in January 2025, as required by the federal law, and “should be enjoined from implementing it,” the complaint says.

The policy shift has led to school closures or a switch to remote learning — causing districts a loss of time and money — and a sharp drop in student attendance, according to the complaint.

“DHS’s presence in and near school property has created an atmosphere of fear, for native-born citizens, naturalized citizens and legally present immigrants alike,” the complaint states. “Parents across the state are afraid to send their children to school, and schools have had to adjust their programs.”

Fridley schools’ attendance rate has dropped nearly one-third during the enforcement surge and over 400 families have opted into remote learning, causing teachers to “divert hours of time from other tasks to create new curricula for remote learning,” according to the complaint.

Duluth schools’ administrators have spent nearly a third of their time on planning related to immigration activities, costing the district about $573,000 a month, the complaint says.

“Students can’t learn, and educators can’t teach, when there are armed, masked federal agents stationed within view of classroom windows, sometimes for days on end,” Monica Byron, the president of Education Minnesota, said in a statement. Education Minnesota is made up of 477 local unions, representing more than 84,000 members.

Incidents cited

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The complaint cites 14 enforcement incidents at or near schools or involving students and teachers.

They include the high-profile case of Christina Rank, an Inver Grove Heights paraprofessional at Concord Education Center who was arrested in the school’s parking lot after a car crash involving ICE agents on Jan. 12. Rank has since been charged in federal court, with the complaint alleging she followed ICE agents from the school parking lot, drove into an oncoming lane and across the parking lot entrance at the same time the officers were turning into the lot, causing the collision.

Wednesday’s lawsuit says immigration agents pulled over two vans contracted by St. Paul schools to carry students and staff on Jan. 15, and that agents were in the parking lots at Little Canada Elementary School and Roseville Education Center on Jan. 21.

Art museum curator and director David A. Ross has left his post at the School of Visual Arts in New York after the latest release of documents about Jeffrey Epstein revealed his friendship with the convicted sex offender.

Ross, who was chair of the MFA art practice program, resigned Tuesday, the school said in a statement, adding that it was “aware of correspondence” between him and Epstein. Ross’ online page at the school was offline Wednesday.

The resignation was first reported by ARTnews.

In emails dating from 2009, Ross banters with, reaches out to meet and consoles Epstein, calling him “incredible” and “I’m still proud to call you a friend.”

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In one exchange in 2009, Epstein suggests an exhibition called “Statutory” that would feature “girls and boys ages 14-25 ”where they look nothing like their true ages.” Replied Ross: “You are incredible” and noted that Brooke Shields posed nude at age 10.

Also that year, Ross wrote to console Epstein after the financier had been deposed. “Damn, this was not what you needed or deserved,” Ross wrote. “I know how tough you are, and in fact, it probably bothers me as your friend more than it does you.”

In an email to ARTnews after his resignation, Ross said that he met Epstein in the mid-1990s when he was director of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. “It was part of my job to befriend people who had the capacity and interest in supporting the museum,” he said.

The Whitney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida charges of soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. Ross said he believed Epstein when the financier told him it was “a political frame-up.”

Ross told ARTnews that when Epstein was being investigated again in 2019, he reached out to show his support. “That was a terrible mistake of judgement. When the reality of his crimes became clear, I was mortified and remain ashamed that I fell for his lies.”

Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Ross have been unsuccessful.

In addition to the Whitney, Ross previously held posts at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the Berkeley Art Museum and the Long Beach Museum of Art.

The emails are part of more than 3 million pages of documents the U.S. Department of Justice released on Friday that reveal some of Epstein’s famous associates.

For the second year in a row, the Minnesota Orchestra posted an operating loss in the millions in its fiscal year 2025, the organization announced Tuesday.

The orchestra has total net assets of $187 million and no debt. Revenues totaled $38.1 million and operating expenses were $42.3 million resulting in a $4.2 million operating loss. Last year, the orchestra posted a $3.8 million loss due largely to the end of pandemic-era grants.

In a news release, board chair William Miller touted the orchestra’s highest-ever levels of annual fund donations and earned revenue as well as a return to pre-pandemic attendance levels.

“We will channel that momentum over the next several seasons to diversify our revenue streams in order to build greater resilience and agility in how we operate,” said president and CEO Isaac Thompson. “This is an opportunity to think bigger about the role the orchestra can play in serving our city and wider community.”

Total contributions — from annual fund donations, major gifts and Symphony Ball contributions — reached $20.4 million, holding steady from the previous year. Total earned revenue — from ticket sales, rentals and concessions — reached a record high of $12.1 million. Orchestra Hall was filled to 82 percent paid capacity, a nearly 9% increase over the prior year.

More than 230,000 guests attended in-person Minnesota Orchestra concerts in 2024-25, hailing from 83 of 87 Minnesota counties, all 50 states and 24 countries. With audio streaming, digital concerts, TV and radio broadcasts included, that number reached more than 2.5 million.

Artistic highlights from the year include:

• The launch of Nordic Soundscapes, a January festival that traversed the landscape of Nordic music, alongside a sampling of Scandinavian culture, cocktails and design in the Orchestra Hall lobby.

• The orchestra’s first performances of Puccini’s Turandot in 40 years. Led by music director Thomas Søndergård and headlined by soprano Christine Goerke and tenor Limmie Pulliam, the event kickstarted a multi-year initiative to offer annual opera-in-concert with topflight singers.

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• The return of the Composer Institute and Future Classics concert, which cast a spotlight on four national rising composers. Elise Arancio, Andrew Faulkenberry, Soomin Kim and Benjamin Webster each participated in mentoring sessions, rehearsals and seminars before having their music performed and recorded by the orchestra.

• A celebration of the 50th anniversary of Orchestra Hall through historical displays in the lobby, audience and artist anecdotes and programming nods to the 1974-75 season.

• In July, the performance auditorium inside Orchestra Hall was renamed the Lindahl Auditorium, in honor of life director and former board chair (2023-25) Nancy Lindahl and her husband John.