November 6, 2006 - MPR's Tom Scheck reports on final senatorial debate, hosted by Minnesota Public Radio, where the three major party candidates made their pitch to voters on the last full day of campaigning before Tuesday's election. Democrat Amy Klobuchar, Republican Mark Kennedy and the Independence Party's Robert Fitzgerald sparred over global warming, prescription drug costs and the war in Iraq. Klobuchar continues to hold major leads in all the independent polls, but Kennedy believes he's closing the gap in the final days of the election.
November 7, 2006 - Election 2006: Keith Ellison's speech after victory over Alan Fine, Tammy Lee for the 5th Congressional District seat.
November 7, 2006 - Election 2006: Amy Klobuchar's speech after defeating Mark Kennedy for U.S. Minnesota Senate seat.
November 8, 2006 - MPR's Mark Steil reports on how Democrat Tim Walz spent his first day as 1st District congressman-elect with family and supporters in Mankato. Walz beat six-term Republican Gil Gutknecht in 2008’ election. Walz says he's in debt to a number of supporters, many of whom are enthusiastic high school and college students.
November 8, 2006 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann interviews Sam Hurd, a student at Mankato West High School West, who took a geography class with Tim Walz as his teacher. Hurd describes the experience, noting Walz as both ‘worldy’ and ‘normal guy.’
November 8, 2006 - In one of the state's biggest election upsets, Minnesota's 1st Congressional District has gone democratic, with first time candidate Tim Walz winning the race with 53% of the vote. He defeated Republican six-term incumbent Gil Gutknecht.
November 30, 2006 - Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak says he's disappointed and angry about having to remove fire chief Bonnie Bleskachek from the office he appointed her to in 2004. Earlier this week, Rybak and several other councilmembers voted to fire her from the department's top post, and to reject a settlement offer that would allow her to come back to the force in a lesser rank. MPR’s Brandt Williams report also includes interviews with Bonnie Bleskachek and Greg Corwin, a civil service attorney.
December 7, 2006 - To mark the anniversary of Peral Harbor attack, Midday talks with local author Dave Kenny on the Minnesotans' memories of Pearl Harbor. He has written a book Minnesota Goes to War. Program includes call-in commentary and questions.
December 8, 2006 - “The McCarthy Tapes” takes the listener back to the 1968 campaign through audio recordings of the Eugene McCarthy archive, which documents a turbulent time in America's history. McCarthy’s political legacy will forever be defined by 1968, when McCarthy turned his opposition to the Vietnam War into a crusade for the presidency.
December 12, 2006 - After a quarter century overseeing Minneapolis Public Schools, longtime Minneapolis school board member Judy Farmer attends her last Minneapolis school board meeting. She visits the Midday studio to look back on her 26 years on the board and offers her thoughts on current issues in education.