Ryan Faircloth
Politics and government reporter
Higher EducationFaircloth previously covered higher education and breaking news, contributing to the Star Tribune’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the police killing of George Floyd. A 2018 graduate of the University of Minnesota, Faircloth started his career covering state politics for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and was named Minnesota’s Young Journalist of the Year by the state Society of Professional Journalists for his reporting at the Capitol. In his spare time, he enjoys practicing boxing and mixed martial arts – sports he once competed in – and searching the Twin Cities for barbecue and tacos that are even half as good as those he had growing up in Houston.
Latest from Ryan Faircloth
Elections
Five Minnesota political figures to watch after the 2024 election
These Minnesotans are poised to play prominent roles in state and national politics in the coming years.
November 22, 2024
Elections
This Minnesota county voted blue for nearly 100 years — until Trump. Can Democrats win it back?
Carlton County, just southwest of Duluth, hadn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since Herbert Hoover in 1928. Trump snapped that nearly centurylong streak earlier this month.
November 22, 2024
Elections
How Minnesota House Republicans ended the DFL’s state government trifecta
Republicans across the country benefited from favorable tailwinds as President-elect Donald Trump resoundingly defeated Democrat Kamala Harris. But that wasn’t the whole story in Minnesota.
November 8, 2024
Elections
Gov. Tim Walz will return to Minnesota after Trump victory blocks him from becoming vice president
Walz’s attempt to join Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale as the only Minnesotans to ascend to the vice presidency was unsuccessful.
November 6, 2024
Elections
‘The blue wall must hold’: Gov. Tim Walz rallies in Wisconsin, Michigan on eve of election
Walz campaigned across Wisconsin and in Detroit, Mich., on Monday. Trump’s running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, held his own rally in La Crosse on Monday.
November 5, 2024
Elections
Here’s what would happen in Minnesota if Gov. Tim Walz is elected vice president on Tuesday
If Walz is elected to the White House, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan would succeed him and become Minnesota’s first female and first Native American governor.
November 1, 2024
Elections
Minnesotans have cast about 920,000 early ballots. A deadline change could delay results.
Minnesota soared past its 2016 early vote total on Thursday, with five days of early voting remaining.
November 1, 2024
Elections
Will Minnesota’s long-blue Iron Range turn red in November?
Minnesota Republicans are hopeful the region’s rightward shift will help them win every state House seat on the Range this year and end the DFL’s trifecta control of state government.
October 26, 2024
Elections
‘The blue wall must hold’: Gov. Tim Walz rallies in Wisconsin, Michigan on eve of election
Walz campaigned across Wisconsin and in Detroit, Mich., on Monday. Trump’s running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, held his own rally in La Crosse on Monday.
November 5, 2024
Elections
Here’s what would happen in Minnesota if Gov. Tim Walz is elected vice president on Tuesday
If Walz is elected to the White House, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan would succeed him and become Minnesota’s first female and first Native American governor.
November 1, 2024
Elections
Minnesotans have cast about 920,000 early ballots. A deadline change could delay results.
Minnesota soared past its 2016 early vote total on Thursday, with five days of early voting remaining.
November 1, 2024
Elections
Will Minnesota’s long-blue Iron Range turn red in November?
Minnesota Republicans are hopeful the region’s rightward shift will help them win every state House seat on the Range this year and end the DFL’s trifecta control of state government.
October 26, 2024