On January 18, 2026, LWVSP held "Know Your Rights and Responsibilities as an Ally," the first in its 2026 Learn with the League event series. Program Committee Co-Chair Melissa Finnegan moderated a two-speaker panel who provided useful information and important insight.

We hosted Staff Attorney Louica Alexandre from The Advocates for Human Rights, who explained the current situation of ICE enforcement in Minnesota, what basic rights are at stake, and what immigrants face in courtroom situations. LWVSP Member and Community Activist Joann Ellis discussed how community activists are tracking and reporting ICE activity, as well as providing mutual aid through neighborhood-based networks.

The event drew 104 viewers, a new record for LWVSP online events.

The event recording is now available to view on the League's YouTube channel. You can click here to download the slides from the event too (PDF).

There is a grassroots network organized by SPPS parents to help our schools. They are asking for volunteers to walk the school area before and after school to watch for and film (if necessary) ICE activities around the school. It is also a way to donate food for the school’s families. It is called the St. Paul Parent Solidarity Network.

Click here to sign up.

On January 27, the League of Women Voters of Minnesota issued a special bulletin, stating that it "strongly opposes U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s demand that Minnesota turn over its voter registration data as a condition for federal cooperation particularly while this issue is the subject of ongoing litigation."

LWVMN is a party to USA v. Simon, a case directly concerning the protection of Minnesota voters’ rights and the integrity of our elections," the bulletin continues, "We will continue to defend Minnesota’s election systems, voter privacy, and the fundamental principle that participation in democracy must never be used as leverage or retaliation." (Click here to read the full bulletin.).

LWVMN issued the bulletin as a result of an exchange between the U.S. Attorney General's Office and the Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State. On January 24, the Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz requesting access for her office to Minnesota's voter rolls. On January 25, the Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State issued a statement in response.

The statement reads, in part, "The answer to Attorney General Bondi’s request is no. Her letter is an outrageous attempt to coerce Minnesota into giving the federal government private data on millions of U.S. Citizens in violation of state and federal law. This comes after repeated and failed attempts by the DOJ to pressure my office into providing the same data.

Minnesota’s elections are fair, accurate, honest, and secure. Every step of the way they are organized by local officials – Minnesotans who do honest, hard work to ensure their neighbors, friends, and family have access to a secure ballot." (Click here to read Secretary Simon's full statement.).

Attention St. Paul Leaguers: looking for swag? Our online apparel shop is open until February 2! Place your orders now for pickup/drop-off in 2-3 weeks. 

Email Nona at lwvstpaul@lwvmn.org for more details. We've got T's in classic or v-neck and women's cut. Also sweatshirts, tote bags, beanies, and baseball caps.

Store URL: https://lwvstpaul-apparel.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Morning Book Club (Dec. 10)

On December 10, Morning Book Club discussed The Big One, How We Must Prepare for Future Pandemics, written by Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH and Mark Olshaker. Olsterholm, a world famous epidemiologist and the founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, is well known in Minnesota and the Twin Cities, as well as nationally.  Mark Olshaker is a a journalist, documentary film maker, and author.

The Big One is Osterholm's opinion of why there will be another major pandemic, what that pandemic might be like, and what should be done to prepare for it. The book includes a history of pandemics; a detailed report on how the U.S. dealt with Covid 19; and Osterholm’s advice on what we should do to prepare for future pandemics.  The book is analytical, detailed, and held together by a hypothetical story of a future pandemic, one caused by a highly contagious, airborne virus “with wings” and a significant mortality rate, the kind of virus that Osterholm thinks may cause the next great pandemic. 

Osterholm includes a comprehensive analysis of the mistakes he thinks were made throughout the height of the Covid pandemic; discusses what was useful and not useful; recommends future actions; and then explains in detail the many obstacles to implementing those recommendations.

Our book club noticed that Osterholm is critical of almost everyone involved in our national Covid response, including people throughout our public health system, the government, and the media. Issues discussed included the difficulty of effectively communicating to the public at a time when everyone was still learning about the virus. We experienced a lack of accurate information, politicized government communications, as well as an increase in public misunderstanding and opposition to public health recommendations (e.g. masks) and the vaccine.  

Our group discussed lack of trust as a major obstacle in preparing for the next pandemic. Covid impacted our country significantly, leaving us to deal with an increased loss of trust in our institutions, including government at all levels, and in the public health sector.  There is increased reluctance to believe or accept public health recommendations and vaccines. Moreover, the current administration is openly hostile to public health and purposely destroying the public health infrastructure we relied on to fight pandemics. It may be some time, if ever, before there is a desire to rebuild and prepare for the next pandemic.

The next book will be Coming Up Short; A Memoir of my America, by Robert B. Reich.  We will talk about it at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026 at the Highland Library, 1974 Ford Parkway. 

On December 6, LWVSP held its annual December Luncheon at the Town & Country Club in St. Paul on Mississippi River Blvd. Roughly 50 members gathered to enjoy a meal together; celebrate the League's work in 2025; and to hear from featured speak Marlene Johnson. 

Marlene Johnson is an entrepreneur, author, and the first female Lt. Governor in the state of Minnesota. She recounted her work on a range of issues during Governor Rudy Perpich's administration, as well as signed copies of her book, Rise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love. You can buy Johnson's book at Storyline Books or from other vendors.

On December 9, the League of Women Voters of St. Paul and the Saint Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN) hosted a candidate forum for the Special Election in MN House District 64A. The winner of this election will replace Rep. Kaohly Her, who is the Mayor-elect of Saint Paul, an office she will assume in January 2026. 

Six of the candidates -- Beth Fraser, Matt Hill, Meg Luger-Nikolai, Dan McGrath, Lois Quam, and John Zwier (pictured, L-R) -- joined us for a lively and wide-ranging discussion of issues affecting District 64A, the city of St. Paul, and the state of Minnesota. These topics included healthcare costs; housing costs; public safety; ICE enforcement operations and their local affects; data centers; energy; environmental concerns; and transportation. The moderated discussion ran for about an hour and a half and was livestreamed through SPNN's YouTube channel. Although in-person attendance was lower than expected owing to inclement weather, the livestream has garnered over 900 views. You can view the proceedings here.

As a reminder, the key Special Election dates are:

• Tuesday, December 16: Special Primary Election
• Tuesday, January 27, 2026: Special Election

By Patrick Finnegan, Advocacy Committee Co-Chair

The Advocacy Steering Committee launched a short survey of LWVSP membership to gauge which policy issues members believe to be most important in St. Paul. Participants were asked to select their top 5 issues from a longer list. An optional second question asked why the respondent chose the issues they did.

We received 51 responses, representing approximately 1/3 of our membership. Our respondents overwhelmingly found basic needs and quality of life issues to be most urgent, but also expressed robust concern about immigration issues (federal enforcement) and gun policy. 

These survey results are consistent with concerns expressed by members of the public at our two candidate forums earlier this year (as measured by submitted questions). The Advocacy Steering Committee will discuss the survey results in the context of the League's national policy positions -- as elaborated in the League's Impact on Issues 2024-26 policy guide -- to see how they apply to St. Paul and Ramsey County. 
 
If you are interested in joining the Advocacy Committee, please send an email to Nona Beining and/or Patrick Finnegan – Advocacy Committee Co-Chairs – at advocacy.lwvsp@gmail.com.

By Pamela Mercier, Voter Service Committee Co-Chair

The Voter Service Committee finished its fall work at Keystone Community Center in November. Registering and educating potential voters at the food shelf was a worthwhile and rewarding experience for the many volunteers who joined us there. We learned much about how food shelves work and we developed a strong relationship with the staff. The work they do is a great benefit to the community. We intend to expand our work to include other food shelf organizations in 2026.

Our efforts to educate and register voters at Keystone was a success. We adapted our strategies to this context by focusing as much on education – through conversations and the distribution of materials – as on actual registrations. Most people engaged readily with us in meaningful conversations about voting. At the same time, we are thinking about developing other effective ways to share our messages with individuals who receive this vital service. We will ask the food shelf to have voting information on display more permanently. We’ve also discussed having voting information inserted into food shelf visitors’ bags.

We met with leaders at the Teen Center Program at Keystone Community Services. A teacher there is developing a unit on Civic Engagement for her students. We shared resources and ideas with her, which will likely be part of this programming in early 2026.

We also continue our work in the schools. In December, we are offering voter registration and education at Twin Cities Academy, a Saint Paul charter school. We will table at the school’s “Senior Night,” where we will invite students and families to learn more about voting and to register to vote if needed.

On Sunday, November 23, we had our bimonthly Voter Service Committee Meeting online. We reviewed our work this fall and received lively feedback from participants. We also discussed ideas for 2026 in food shelves, schools, senior communities, and other places.

The 2026 midterm elections are less than a year away. November 2026 will be as big an election time in Saint Paul as elsewhere in the nation. We will be very busy educating voters on the voting process, as well as helping to register eligible voters. Needless to say there will be many volunteer opportunities next year!

Chris and I want to heartily thank all the volunteers who rose to the challenge of educating and registering voters this fall! You do tremendous work helping to grow the voting community in Saint Paul.

Our next Voter Service Committee meeting will be in January 2026. Stay tuned for updates.

Morning Book Club

On November 12, 2025, Morning Book Club members gathered to discuss The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson, which recounts the five months between Abraham Lincoln's election to the U.S. presidency in November 1860, and the Confederate shelling of Fort Sumter in April 1861, which ignited the American Civil War. Larson uses diaries and secret communiqués to explore the human drama behind the political crisis. The book focuses on the escalating tensions in Charleston, South Carolina, following secession. Key figures include President-elect Lincoln, the radical secessionist Edmund Ruffin, planter's wife Mary Boykin Chesnut, and, central to the conflict, Major Robert Anderson, the Union commander trying to hold Fort Sumter against immense pressure. Larson reveals how a series of miscommunications and miscalculations among political and military leaders pushed an already divided nation past the brink and into catastrophe.

Our group discussed how people had picnics watching the shelling of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, viewing it as a spectacle at first. The cause of the Civil War was the South seceding because of slavery. Mary Chesnut was quite the character. She wrote in her diary every day about life in Charleston. Major Robert Anderson, Commander of the fort, was full of anxiety. Communications were poor between D.C. and the fort. Most people thought the Civil War would be over fast, but it wasn’t and many people lost their lives.

Our next book is The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics by Michael Osterholm. We’ll discuss it at our next meeting on December 10th at 10:00 a.m. at the Highland Park Library, 1974 Ford Parkway.