Editor in chief, @MNReformer. Contact me if you wanna write for us. DMs open. Formerly @StarTribune, @LasVegasSun, @UMWallaceHouse. Go Irish.
Twin Cities
Joined April 2010
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Huge and developing story....State: Fridley Public Schools risks ‘debt spiral’ minnesotareformer.com/2026/1…
j. patrick coolican retweeted
What Peggy Flanagan’s Senate victory would mean for Indian Country minnesotareformer.com/2026/1…
j. patrick coolican retweeted
In 2022, the Minnesota Reformer published a seven-part explanation of how Minnesota elections work authored by me. Changes since then are generally minor, so the series still is relevant. If anyone has anything they want an update on or any remaining questions, please ask. 🧵
j. patrick coolican retweeted
NEW: The man who organized Thursday’s Oval Office prayer with 12 Catholic bishops resigned as a university dean in 2022 after faculty accused him of misrepresenting his education and called him a “con artist.”
A senior Vatican official told me the gathering was “a highly inappropriate meeting and an insult to Pope Leo.”
Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, was “deeply frustrated” by the meeting, a source close to him told The Pillar. thelettersfromleo.com/p/heri…
I wrote about @ChapinForMN6 and urge people in both parties to run serious long shot candidacies. minnesotareformer.com/2026/1…
j. patrick coolican retweeted
Amy Klobuchar has already told us who she is minnesotareformer.com/2026/1…
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When first reported, 2025’s jobs reports added up to 1.2 million new jobs.
After revisions, the economy added just 116,000 — 90% less.
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This clip of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is getting a lot of attention tonight, but many of the people sharing it are misstating what she was asked.
When she said, "Not to my knowledge," she was not answering whether she had married her brother.
Chris Hayes had already asked about the brother claim, and she called it “insane” and a right-wing conspiracy theory initially started by a Somali blog.
"Not to my knowledge" was her answer to his follow-up, whether she was related to the man in any way.
People are welcome to criticize her for that — but they should at least get the question she was asked right.
.@michellemngriff mined Amy Klobuchar's two memoirs so you don't have too. Lots of interesting details.
Amy Klobuchar has already told us who she is.
minnesotareformer.com/2026/1…
j. patrick coolican retweeted
Tad Jude, candidate for Minnesota Secretary of State, was asked about the 2012 vote in which Minnesotans rejected a photo ID requirement. His memory apparently failed him, so he just made stuff up. Judge for yourself.
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Detail I wasn't aware of: the white police chief in this town was fired last month for repeatedly saying the N-word mississippitoday.org/2026/08…
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The Rooster reported that this attack ad on Amy Acton was being polled. That's why it doesn't have a disclaimer. The ad was leaked by somebody, not put on the air as far as we know. The biggest journalistic question right now is verifying who paid for it.
j. patrick coolican retweeted
Race for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District tests how much south suburbs have shifted left minnesotareformer.com/2026/1…
Andy Craig of @UnPopulistMag lays out a powerful *constitutional* argument against Trump's attempt to choose who gets to serve in Congress, which would negate the legislative branch's ability to be a check on the executive. minnesotareformer.com/2026/1…
Excellent reporting here from @michellemngriff who gives a more complete and nuanced portrait of
@LisaDemuthMN than we've seen to date. ‘Godly leadership’: Lisa Demuth’s Pentecostal faith is a driving force behind her politics minnesotareformer.com/2026/1…
j. patrick coolican retweeted
To say the very least on this, the congressman is incorrect on the law.
Two-party consent is relevant only to private oral conversations, and he has zero expectation of privacy here.
1st Amendment gives you the right to record public officials in public places as long as you're not interfering with their official duties.
j. patrick coolican retweeted
Billions of dollars’ worth of contracts predicting oil would fall and the S&P 500 would rise were placed about 15 minutes before Trump announced a U-turn on Iran in a post on Truth Social. CFTC staff began to investigate-- then were told to lay off. bloomberg.com/news/features/…
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Jake Johnson is collecting receipts — can he collect enough votes against Rep. Brad Finstad? minnesotareformer.com/2026/1…
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Christie: As a Republican, I sat here shaking my head at the political malpractice that was committed on this air with you by Tom Emmer.
Here is the Republican argument for the last three weeks:
1. It's OK to sell or to buy oil from a thug KGB dictator in Russia who will use it to kill free Ukrainians.
2. The American people don't get the fact that the economy is great. And so when they have to pay all they have to pay at the grocery store and at the gas station, they just don't get it.
3. It's OK to live stream a murder by the United States government executing on the death penalty.
Those are our three closing arguments to try to maintain our majorities in the House and Senate.
What you heard throughout it is… this absolute requirement that you must stand by everything Donald Trump says and does, if you want to remain in leadership in the House or the Senate.