SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Minnesota is one of a handful of states where control of the state legislature hangs in the balance during this year's elections. Democrats have held the governor's office and majorities in both chambers for the past two years. And as Minnesota Public Radio's Dana Ferguson reports, whether Republicans can change that could come down to one special election for a Senate district in the Minneapolis suburbs.
DANA FERGUSON, BYLINE: On a sunny Tuesday morning, Republican state Senate candidate Kathleen Fowke walks door-to-door in the district that hugs Lake Minnetonka in the suburbs west of Minneapolis.
KATHLEEN FOWKE: Hi, sir. How are you? Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Hey. You're in my YouTube all the time.
FOWKE: I'm sorry. I know it gets...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, no, that's fine. That's fine.
FOWKE: You know, I'm kind of getting sick of seeing my face as well (laughter).
FERGUSON: Fowke is running in a special election that will decide political control of the Minnesota Senate. The race is expected to be the most expensive legislative contest in the state's history, and ads are already out in force, as the voter in the politically purple district noted. While there's some awareness on the ground about the race, Fowke says voters aren't always up to date about the work that state lawmakers do. What she does hear about is money.
FOWKE: It's basically affordability, and they can't afford, you know, just to go to the grocery store anymore. Taxes are high. Inflation is high. They need to find a way to help lower the costs of everything all around them.
FERGUSON: Fowke and other Minnesota Republicans are trying to convince voters that after two years of full Democratic control at the Capitol, the state needs a reset. Along with political control of the Senate, all 134 Minnesota House seats are on the ballot. GOP candidates are advocating for tax cuts and pared-back state government spending. Here's House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth.
LISA DEMUTH: With one-party Democrat control, it was easy just to push through partisan policy and partisan priorities. And so what we want to do is just bring all voices back and still work hard for Minnesotans, but we want to be able to make it more cost-effective to live here.
FERGUSON: Democrats are making the case to voters that they are the ones who can make life more affordable. Leaders tout legislation passed over the last two years, boosting state funding for public schools and housing and adding new benefits for workers, like paid sick time and family leave. Here's Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman.
MELISSA HORTMAN: People trust Democrats to help them afford their lives. They trust that Democrats are going to do more for their economic well-being, whereas what they hear from Republicans is, oh, we have to give more tax cuts to corporations.
FERGUSON: Back in the suburban Senate district, Democrat Ann Johnson Stewart prepares to knock doors to talk about clean drinking water.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANN JOHNSON STEWART: Thank you, everybody. Let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Woo-hoo.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Clean water.
FERGUSON: She's been hosting door-knock events to raise awareness about her policy positions and to ask for votes. She says she has to remind some about the special election and its ramifications for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. That's the official name of the Minnesota Democratic Party.
JOHNSON STEWART: The stakes are high. Whoever wins this election will determine the majority in the Senate and will determine if the DFL can continue to move forward with its policies in progress.
FERGUSON: Beyond Minnesota, there are high-stakes races for legislative control in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Arizona. Candidates are trying to get voters' attention on what state lawmakers deal with - abortion, Medicaid access, guns and taxes.
ANDREW KARCH: There's a real tendency for these races to sort of fly beneath the radar.
FERGUSON: That's Andrew Karch, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota. He says candidates from both parties face an uphill battle getting voters to pay attention to state issues.
KARCH: I think, you know, politics in Minnesota specifically may have been more distinctive a generation ago than they are today in the sense that state and local politicians are increasingly being asked to comment on issues that we might think of as national.
FERGUSON: Fowke and Johnson Stewart say they hope to keep the conversations focused on what's going on in their district. But they know that's a big ask in a presidential election year.
For NPR News, I'm Dana Ferguson near the shores of Lake Minnetonka. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.