Ewald at the Capitol/August 28

Voter Turnout

COVID-19 did not dampen voter turnout in Minnesota for the August primary. Turnout was estimated at approximately 22%; that’s fairly comparable to the same election in 2018, which yielded a 23% turnout. This year’s primary produced exceedingly higher turnout than the same election during the last presidential election year, which only had an estimated 7% turnout.

To put these primary percentages in context with general elections, we saw a 74.72% turnout for the last presidential election. There was a 64.25% turnout for the last non-presidential general election in 2018. These numbers hint that Minnesota will continue to see high turnout for this year’s presidential election, regardless of COVID-19.

Sixty percent of all ballots cast were done by mail. Approximately 5% of early voting was done in person.

Commissioner Hearings

The Senate recently held confirmation hearings for three of Gov. Walz’s commissioners. Public Utilities Commission Commissioner Joe Sullivan, Department of Commerce Commissioner Steve Kelley and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Laura Bishop were each reviewed.

Because the Legislature is not in session, none of the hearings could end with a vote. Confirmation committee hearing votes are technically not the deciding factor in whether a commissioner will be confirmed, but they are certainly an indication of how the majority party will vote when the vote comes before the entire body.

Commissioner Bishop’s and Sullivan’s hearings ended mildly, but at Commissioner Steve Kelley’s hearing, one chair suggested that if there had been a vote, the vote would have been to recommend denying his confirmation. In contrast, during Commissioner Bishop’s hearing, a couple of GOP Senators said that they look forward to working with her in the future, despite their grievances.

Departments of Health and Human Services Blue Ribbon Commission

The final meeting of the Minnesota Blue Ribbon Commission for the Departments of Health and Human Services was held this month. This group was tasked in 2019 with developing an action plan for transforming the health and human services system and finding $100 million in savings within the department.

The commission made 22 recommendations, which were overall somewhat controversial in nature and unlikely to be adopted. If the commission’s recommendations are not adopted, $100 million will be taken from the state reserves in the 2021-23 state budget.