Minnesota Senate race: Demuth and Tafoya stress independence. These suburban voters still see Trump

Nathaniel Minor, Betsy Lecy, Josie Albertson-Grove and Sarah Ritter, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Nov 2, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — President Donald Trump recently asked voters to “close your eyes and pretend I’m on the ballot” during this month’s election.

That’s put top Minnesota Republican candidates Lisa Demuth, who is running for governor, and Michele Tafoya, who is running for U.S. Senate, in an awkward position as they have tried to strike a balance of supporting the president while not embracing him too tightly in a state where he is deeply unpopular.

Tafoya, who’s cast herself as an independent moderate who will stand up to her party, has held wavering views on the president and most recently brushed off his endorsement of her campaign. Demuth has largely supported Trump, though she often shrugs off questions about him and says she wants to focus on Minnesota issues instead.

Democrats, meanwhile, have poured money into ads trying to tie Trump to the two candidates.

Whether voters see Tafoya and Demuth as independent of the president could matter the most in the Twin Cities suburbs, where both Republicans need to perform well to have a chance in their respective races.

The Minnesota Star Tribune spoke to about 100 voters in several swing-district suburbs over the last week about who they voted for and why.

While most self-identifying Republicans said they voted a straight Republican ticket, some right-leaning independents and historically Republican voters who are Trump critics said they weren’t convinced by Demuth and Tafoya’s posture toward the president.

“I think that she is not telling the truth,” Lezlie Olson said of Tafoya as she left Lakeville City Hall. “I think she’s tied to Trump and I think that talk is cheap.”

Adair Banker of Newport said she used to lean more Republican, but has supported Democrats during Trump’s rise to power. She hopes Democrats will bring change if they are elected.

“Just a general change, from top to bottom, that doesn’t involve cruelty or corruption or chaos,” she said.

Pete Tousignant of Shakopee backed Trump in 2016 but has been disgusted by his performance in office. He voted for Amy Klobuchar and Peggy Flanagan this year.

He doubted either Tafoya or Demuth would be independent, and said Tafoya’s lack of political experience was disqualifying and Demuth’s portrayal of herself as a moderate was unconvincing.

Tousignant was especially troubled by Demuth’s blocking of a gun bill last spring after reportedly telling the parents of a slain Annunciation student she would let such a bill reach the House floor.

“She went down my list, just slid down to the very bottom,” Tousignant said. “That was very, very abusive.”

Paul Dalen of Eden Prairie was disappointed by Demuth’s stance toward Operation Metro Surge, which he called an unfair attack on Minnesota by the Trump administration.

Demuth was not as vocally defensive of ICE as other Republicans, but she also repeatedly declined to criticize the Trump administration during the height of the surge.

“That one was pretty clear,” said Dalen, who said he stopped voting for Republicans about a decade ago. “You were either supporting this or not. The unfairness of it was blatant.”

Other voters said they were bothered by verbal attacks from Republicans against Somali Americans. Demuth and Tafoya have recently invoked the Somali community in discussions about fraud and crime, hoping to reach voters upset about those issues.

“These days, it’s hard to even recognize Minnesota. Enough of the fraud and Somali gang violence,” Demuth said in a new ad released this week.

Messaging like that has alienated Holly Sonnen of Cottage Grove, an independent who voted a straight Democratic ticket this year.

Republicans should be doing more to rebuke racism, she said. “If they’re not willing to be a voice against it, it’s actually supporting it,” she said.

Some voters, like Michelle Bartley of Maple Grove, said they feel both parties have become too extreme and hope for a greater balance to be restored in this election.

“We chose a Republican candidate for governor because that would be the biggest change,” Bartley said. “And we need more Democrats to prevail in the federal legislature so that’s where we voted Democratic.”

Alex Kim of Lakeville said he identifies as an independent who doesn’t follow “party doctrine,” though he cast a vote for both Flanagan and Klobuchar.

In voting for Flanagan, he said she isn’t his “favorite choice,” but it’s “the lesser of two evils.”

“I think historically, the worst things have happened when one party controls every branch,” Kim said.

Mike Johnson of Shakopee said he’s voted for Democrats for the last few election cycles despite still identifying as a Republican.

“The darkness that’s spreading on that side, I just can’t vote for that right now,” he said.

He’s open to voting Republican again, he said, and wants them to return to conservative ideals like balanced budgets and condemn the corruption he sees in the White House “It’s not forever,” he said of his support for Democrats. “It’s for right now.”

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