Minnesota Republicans at their state convention in Duluth endorsed former state Senator John Howe of Red Wing to run for secretary of state against Democratic incumbent Steve Simon. Howe says he won’t be partisan — unlike the current occupant of that office. He says, “When the president[ial] commission asked for certain information, the Secretary of State’s office certainly could have given the information that they legally could have given — and I think, had it been a different president asking for that information, that information would have flowed.”
Howe ran for secretary of state four years ago, but dropped out of the race after not receiving the GOP endorsement.
Howe was asked whether voters should be required to show I-D at the polls before receiving their ballot. He says, “Having a photo identification adds to the system, but I don’t think that’s what we need to jump to right now — but we definitely need to improve our integrity and there’s some ways we can do that.”