In the race between Gophers and Badgers for voter turnout, the Badgers won.

Voters in Wisconsin narrowly outperformed Minnesota voters in the 2024 election. The University of Florida’s Election Lab reported that 76.35% of the voting-eligible population cast ballots in Minnesota. In Wisconsin, 76.64% of the voting-eligible population cast ballots.

Secretary of State Steve Simon regularly touts Minnesota’s long-running first-place voter turnout position. And he said while turnout was strong in the 2024 general election, it came up just a little bit short.

“In a heartbreakingly close contest, Minnesota lost the title of number one in voter turnout to Wisconsin for the 2024 election,” he said in a statement. “We congratulate our neighbors to the east on this victory and we’ll continue our work to earn the top spot back in 2026.”

Wisconsin was one of a handful of battleground states in last year’s presidential election. Campaigns spent tens of millions of dollars in Wisconsin, and voters sent a mixed message back by reelecting Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

Minnesota stayed in the Democratic column. Former Vice President Kamala Harris won the presidential vote in Minnesota with Gov. Tim Walz on the ticket. DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar easily defeated her Republican opponent.

— MPR News

Minnesota Lottery says $1M jackpot claimed

Luck was in the air in Woodbury as someone recently won more than $1 million from the Gopher 5 lottery.

The golden ticket was sold last week at Kwik Trip on City Centre Drive. After six days of suspense, the winning ticket was anonymously claimed Tuesday, according to the Minnesota Lottery.

According to the Lottery, Kwik Trip will earn a $5,000 bonus for selling the ticket. The winning numbers, drawn last Wednesday, were 5-14-28-39-43 and the total prize was $1,015,162.

“We were definitely surprised,” store leader Steve Mudgett said.

He said the store sells plenty of lottery tickets, but this was the first time he’s seen this big of a win. Since the announcement, Mudgett said many customers have mentioned the jackpot.

— Talia McWright

Maple Grove medtech firm to lay off 100

Come July, more than 100 workers in Maple Grove are expected to be laid off.

Teleflex, a Pennsylvania-based medical device provider, is closing all operations at its Maple Grove facility and expects to lay off 101 employees July 1, according to a notice filed last week with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The Maple Grove site, located at 6464 Sycamore Ct. N., was used to create diagnostic and interventional catheters. Laboratory and manufacturing operations are expected to cease by June 30 and a complete closure of the building is expected by March 2026.

Earlier this year, Teleflex announced it would split into two public entities. The new entity, NewCo, will consist of its urology, acute care and OEM businesses while the other, RemainCo, houses hospital-focused vascular access, interventional and surgical businesses, MedTechDive reported.

The same day the split was announced, Teleflex also announced its roughly $790 million acquisition of “all of the vascular intervention business” of medical technology and device company Biotronik.

— Mars King

Comcast offers new broadband pricing

In a first for nationwide customers of Philadelphia-based Comcast, its Xfinity broadband internet service is now available with a five-year price guarantee starting at $55 a month.

No annual contract is required, so there’s no obligation and customers can cancel anytime.

Those who forgo the price guarantee can pay as little as $40 a month going in, but they are vulnerable to price hikes in the years that follow.

Regardless, those who sign up get a free year of Xfinity Mobile cellular service.

Broadband service tiers extend to $70, $85 and $105 a month with downloads topping 1.3 gigabits per second.

This offer isn’t only for new customers. “If a current customer wants to repackage into a new internet package, they can get the five-year price lock,” said spokeswoman Jill Hornbacher.

Xfinity is one of the Twin Cities’ largest internet providers and has been expanding outstate at a rapid clip.

Quantum Fiber, a top competitor, offers a price-for-life guarantee that covers basic internet fees in perpetuity but might charge extra for equipment and other ancillary fees.

— Julio Ojeda-Zapata