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
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. 🧵
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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…
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j. patrick coolican retweeted
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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j. patrick coolican retweeted
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.
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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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j. patrick coolican retweeted
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…
Actually cannot believe what I've read here.
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j. patrick coolican retweeted
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.
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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…
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j. patrick coolican retweeted
They made the National Championship game…in the expanded playoff…beating #8 Indiana, #2 Georgia and #4 Penn State…two years ago…
Congrats to Notre Dame for continuing its streak of losing every single time they play an actual football team.
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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.
Republican Rep. Andy Harris incorrectly told a reporter they were breaking the law as the reporter and others recorded an exchange with him last night. Harris had just wrapped up a debate with Democratic challenger Dan Schwartz.
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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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j. patrick coolican retweeted
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.
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j. patrick coolican retweeted
Tom Homan, the man leading Trump’s authoritarian “investigation” of Rep. Ilhan Omar right before the midterm, was caught by the FBI accepting a bribe of $50,000 in cash in a paper bag. Homan was recorded admitting to the scheme. But Trump’s Justice Department simply dropped the case and covered it up. The most corrupt presidential administration in history.
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