Our Ground Game newsletter editors asked AP’s political reporters across the country who have been covering the midterm elections to pick the top story they’ve worked on this year and take stock of what made it memorable.
Here’s what Phoenix-based reporter Jonathan J. Cooper had to say about his time in Minnesota covering the Senate race:
“At first glance, Minnesota’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary was just like so many other intra-party conflicts that we’ve covered this year — a progressive candidate trying to take down a better-funded rival backed by the party establishment. Just beneath the surface, though, it was apparent how thoroughly the Minnesota race had been shaped by Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Both were killed by federal agents in January, sparking a backlash against the administration and reshaping the conversation around Trump’s deportation campaign.
U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, the establishment candidate, came under fire for backing the Laken Riley Act, an immigration bill that many other ambitious Democrats had supported. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan attacked her again and again for her vote, saying she had gone soft on opposing Trump.
I spent the weekend before the primary with both candidates and their supporters as they campaigned across the Twin Cities. Trump’s immigration operation came up in virtually every conversation. The airwaves were saturated with ads, many of them about this issue. And though the streets had grown quiet, vigils remained and protest signs were everywhere.
Flanagan went on to win the nomination by a whopping 20 points despite being significantly outspent, another in a series of victories for progressives this year.”
