Readers Write: Women’s safety, election analysis, Trump’s win, Harris’ loss

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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A woman was sexually assaulted by a man in Lebanon Hills Regional Park last week (“Eagan police urge caution as search continues for suspects in sexual assaults at Lebanon Hills Park,” StarTribune.com, Nov. 9).

It was 11 a.m.

This park is a mile from where I grew up, surrounded by great sidewalks and trails for walking, running, whatever. I am so hurt knowing this woman was hurt in a place I frequented and where grew my love of running. What the heck. It was 11 a.m. What more do you want women to do?

Let me tell you, it wasn’t what she was wearing, it wasn’t dark out, it wasn’t a “sketchy part of the city,” it’s not because she was alone, it doesn’t matter if she had earbuds in. Being assaulted is a choice by the perpetrator. On a beautiful trail in (what I consider) a safe suburb. What more do you want women to do?

I choose to run by myself. I listen to music because I like to. I track a car’s tires that pass me to make sure they aren’t pulling over. I at least memorize the state of the license plate and color of a car that slows down near me. I pause my music whenever I pass anyone so I can listen to their steps. I give a wide berth when approaching someone so they don’t lash out. I don’t run in the dark. I cross the street if someone appears to be questionable. I carry my phone with me on every run. We already do so much while trying to “enjoy” exercise, nature and alone time. What more do you want women to do?

Women don’t need to be babysat to go outside. Women can be alone and enjoy nature. Women can run/walk/ride at 11 a.m. because it works with their schedule. Women shouldn’t have to bring every defense under the sun because someone else sees them as prey. This shouldn’t be about the woman — she was the victim. This should be about the person who decided to hurt another person.

Think hard about it. Talk to other people about this. Please help us. Women deserve better.

Abigail Fouts, Menomonie, Wis.

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is a binding agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote.

The Minnesota Legislature joined this compact without much discussion or public input this year. The compact requires enough states with 270 total electoral votes to be activated.

Donald Trump received over 75.1 million votes (50.24%). Kamala Harris received over 71.8 million votes (48%).

Had the compact been in effect this cycle, despite Minnesota voters choosing the Democratic ticket, our electoral votes would have been awarded to the Republican ticket.

This compact further marginalizes Minnesota’s impact on the presidential selection. It ensures even less attention from candidates in the future as they pander to higher population centers. Please urge the Legislature to withdraw from the compact this session.

Richard Dinter, Hibbing, Minn.

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I’m so glad Trump won not only the Electoral College but the popular vote. It shows that most of the country is sick and tired of the woke nonsense that is the liberal left.

Chuck Holtan, Brooklyn Park

I want to push back hard against the tone of criticism about Democratic losses Tuesday, especially those suggesting that the party has gotten “too progressive” and neglected rural folk, farmers and workers. There is no “next election” for children who are growing up bullied, minimized, mocked and persecuted in school and other social settings. We either reach out to all our children and their families, LGBTQ+ and trans people, immigrants, people of color — all of them deserving of acknowledgment and support — now, or abandon them to the machines of abuse. I am proud that the Democratic Party embraces the diverse members of our society. It has always sought to protect the rights of farmers, workers and middle-class people. Nobody has been diminished by including those who are most persecuted and least understood by the majority.

Democrats didn’t lose by seeking rights for more people. There may be much blame to go around for the losses, but opening our hearts and our society for all is not what makes us weak.

Thomas Odendahl, Minneapolis

The 2020 census counted 258 million people in the U.S. ages 18 and over. In 2024 that number is likely higher. A vast majority of them are eligible to vote. There were only 161 million registered voters for this election. 149 million of us cast votes for president, including third-party candidates. Just over 50% of those 149 million votes (75 million) went to President-elect Donald Trump. That is not a “mandate” from the people. That is a minority ushering in Project 2025, inflicting it on the majority because many of us didn’t vote at all. That majority number gets bigger when you count in teens and children affected by Trump’s election. People not voting affects democracy. It affects lives.

How can we reach nonvoters? They are a sizable group. If they understood the stakes to their lives, might they become voters? They probably care about fair wages and oppose large corporations rigging the system and tax breaks for the wealthy while they struggle to care for their families.

News outlets, liberal and conservative alike, are talking in grand sweeping language about Trump’s win. It was a minority of our country’s population!

Media colludes in making Trump’s win sound like it is a “mandate” (i.e., “the people have spoken”). Stop that. Call this what it is and be real. He doesn’t like that his crowd sizes aren’t as big as he says. But they aren’t, and the media should tell the truth about that. Over and over.

Debbie Sheets, Winona, Minn.

In the Star Tribune’s Nov. 7 editorial (“Minnesota voters sought balance in 2024″), the Editorial Board wrote a phrase that I see or hear after many legislative elections: “Voters also strongly signaled their desire for balance with their legislative choices.”

That’s just not true. It may be easy — but fictional — shorthand for the collective result statewide, but it doesn’t apply to individual voters.

A voter doesn’t vote for “balance.” They choose one candidate of one party on their ballot, usually hoping that their party wins that individual seat and hopefully a majority in that house. And there’s no collective intent with millions of individual ballots involved.

Elections are important. Please don’t resort to memes or poetic license in your analyses and reporting of them.

Ken Bearman, Minneapolis

While the current focus is on what happened in the presidential election, let me remind people of four U.S. Senate races.

In Maryland, Angela Alsobrooks, who is Black, defeated former popular GOP governor Larry Hogan.

Here in the Midwest, Elissa Slotkin defeated former popular GOP congressman Mike Rogers. In next door Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin defeated Eric Hovde. These two races were in states where President-elect Donald Trump won the electoral votes.

And right here in Minnesota, Sen. Amy Klobuchar easily defeated Black GOP candidate Royce White. Do we on the GOP side cry racism, or just look inward and realize we nominated a weaker candidate?

So here we have four races, including two in states Trump won, where the Democratic female candidates defeated the GOP male candidates. Misogyny did not seem to hurt those four women.

Yet those on the left want to claim Vice President Kamala Harris lost due to sexism instead of trying to determine the real reasons.

Kevin Lindquist, Maple Grove