Minnesota becomes an unlikely stage for the Senate race, with fraud and public spending at the center of the campaign

Minnesota's U.S. Senate seat emerged as one of the Republican Party's few turning points in Tuesday's midterm elections. According to the Fox Business panel, the state is the only one where Republicans feel they are on the offensive, with a chance of turning a blue seat into a red one.

The race brings together Democratic lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan and Republican candidate Michele Tafoya. According to the channel's report, Flanagan is described as very progressive. She advocates a public health system for all, called Medicare for all, and has said she believes the Supreme Court should gain additional seats.

Tafoya, for his part, says he sees frustration among voters with what happened under the leadership of Flanagan and Gov. Tim Walz. The Republican claims that the seat is ready to change sides. In his speech, he demanded responsibility from his opponent: "Where was her voice when all that fraud was happening?", he asked, in reference to money that had been embezzled in the state.

Fraud and taxpayer money

The issue of fraud is central to the Republican campaign. According to presenter Dana Perino, the governor had to leave the race because of accusations of fraud, and the state was "tired" of the way he was governed. The evaluation is of the channel, and not of an independently verified fact in the broadcast.

Another panelist said Tafoya's message resonates because people pay taxes and don't know where their money goes. For the panel, the candidate is right to stay focused on this point, which tends to weigh on both the fiscal debate and the voter's decision.

Perino called Tafoya possibly one of the best candidates on the scene and said she ran a strong campaign. In contrast, the presenter criticized the style of Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate in another race, whom she accused of fighting with everyone. For her, if Tafoya makes the race relatively close, there may be voters willing to test a change of direction.

Limited resources and the national scenario

Perino lamented that the Republican Party's operation in the Senate was unable to allocate more resources to Minnesota, because it had to invest heavily in states like Texas, Kansas and Iowa. According to her, two years ago no one would have expected Republicans to have to spend there.

The panel also cited the volume of money in this election: spending on legislative elections would be three times that of 2018, and local station owners would have all their advertising space sold by Tuesday. According to the panel, voters are "inundated" with ads and tired of them.

Fox also highlighted the rural vote. According to the data cited, Donald Trump had 65% of rural votes in three national elections and 69% in 2024. The question is how much of this support he still maintains. In a poll by the broadcaster in Texas, the Republican scored 58% or 59% in rural counties, and the panel said it did not know if that was enough to win the state.

For the investor, the reading is monitoring: the result in the Senate defines the environment for fiscal policy, taxes and public spending in Washington. The broadcaster's analysts did not point out, in the broadcast, specific effects on the stock market, interest rates or the dollar, and the outcome in Minnesota will depend on Tuesday's vote.

Automatically translated from Portuguese.