Walz’s ‘extremist’ policies set Minnesota back, says state Senate minority leader

CATHY WURZER: Well, the Trump campaign has wasted no time in trying to define Tim Walz and his record as Minnesota governor. There are already ads posted on social media that rip Walz for his, quote, "radical ideology for supporting gender affirming health care, abortion rights that are enshrined in state law, and his role in dealing with the riots that erupted after George Floyd's death."

We're going to turn now to a leading Republican voice in Minnesota, State Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, who represents a large part of rural Northwestern Minnesota. Senator Johnson, thanks for taking the time.

MARK JOHNSON: Hey, thank you so much for having me on.

CATHY WURZER: Who were Republicans hoping Kamala Harris would pick for vice president? Did this come as a surprise that she chose Tim Walz?

MARK JOHNSON: The rumor mill had been going for a little while here, and it looked like he was a top contender for a bit. So, really, from our perspective, it didn't matter much who was going to be picked as VP. But it is interesting that she went with this route with Governor Walz, given his track record here in Minnesota.

CATHY WURZER: Let's talk about that. When the Feeding Our Future audit came out, you put some of the blame on Governor Walz. He also admitted to leadership failures after the George Floyd murder that resulted in the civil unrest and riots. How might those instances become a vulnerability, perhaps, for Governor Walz?

MARK JOHNSON: Well, we've seen a number of instances, whether it's with agency, the fraud that they were supposed to be tracking and really holding to account what's going on with Minnesota taxpayers' dollars through those agencies. There's failure there. There was a failure when it came to the protests. Really quite an interesting pick to have him at the top of the ticket when you have this baggage going forward.

But I mean, it goes beyond that, too. As you know, we had an $18 billion state budget surplus, and that was spent. And then we raised taxes by $10 billion on Minnesota families and businesses. And now what you're seeing is a big outflow of Minnesotans going out because of what's happening here in this state.

And really, it's become kind of a bit of a depressing place to be if you're a family trying to get going in the state, if you're a business trying to work here. So those are a couple of things that are really going to hold wallets back on that ticket back going forward.

CATHY WURZER: Of course, the governor would argue that you Republicans kind of held things back when you were in control at the legislature and didn't do anything, didn't do much of anything in terms of policy. That's why a lot of the policies that the DFL-controlled legislature enacted were necessary. How do you think that--

MARK JOHNSON: And to--

CATHY WURZER: Go ahead.

MARK JOHNSON: --push back on that a little bit, those are policies that-- what we were doing in Minnesota was doing the reasonable things going forward. But what you saw when Governor Walz and his extremists got into office was pushing policies that set Minnesota back.

Minnesotans weren't looking for that. They were looking for compromise, and they were looking for reasonable policy. And we're seeing test scores go down in math and reading in schools. We're seeing taxes go up. I mean, this is not the right direction for Minnesota.

CATHY WURZER: Do you think, by the way, when the governor was in Congress, he was one of those blue dog Democrats, but more of a moderate when he was in Congress. And then as governor, he has shifted to more of the progressive wing of the party. How do you think that that might play with voters?

MARK JOHNSON: Well, I hope people see that we lack some principle in that case, then. If all of a sudden, what we're doing is pandering to the political winds so that we can get to a higher and higher office, then, I mean, so be it from Governor Walz's standpoint. But we are a state that's known for principles, but now we see these shifting winds and what's happening with the vice presidential nominee.

This is something that worries me. If something is convenient for him, will he throw Minnesota under the bus? I mean, what's it going to look like? And so there's a few things there that I think Minnesotans are pretty concerned about going forward.

CATHY WURZER: You've had a chance to work with the governor, being a legislative leader. What would you say about his personal style, his governing style?

MARK JOHNSON: So that's one of the biggest disappointments that I had. Getting into the leadership position that I possess right now in a very close Senate, it's amazing how little interaction that I have had with the governor and how he's kept half of Minnesota on the outside. There's opportunities that we could have collaborated and work together, but, man, there was so few opportunities to do that in reality.

I don't understand why, if you're in the minority, he treats you like you are a nonexistent entity. And so the reality is, I think a lot of people were imagining that there's more conversation and compromise going back and forth. So to me, it was extremely disappointing.

And I think we could have done a lot more. And things would have looked a lot better in the Minnesota Senate and across the legislature if he would have brought in people more. But he's very exclusive in who he brings in.

CATHY WURZER: He does have a background in agriculture and being, of course, a former member of Congress from the 1st District, you represent a pretty rural area in Northwestern Minnesota. Do you think the governor might have some special appeal to Democrats in your area and maybe some centrist voters who are in the rural areas and feel that they haven't been heard?

MARK JOHNSON: No, and I think that's mostly a product of the Democrat Party right now, is that they've really turned their back on Minnesota farmers. And so whether it's rules and regulations or even when you talk about some of the employment aspects that they have for seasonal workers within their farms, it's really been detrimental to our local economy and our farmers here, who are competing on a global scale, but also against our neighbors on where I'm from, on the North Dakota side, or if you're near Iowa or South Dakota.

I mean, a lot of those businesses that support Minnesota farmers are doing more business on those other states because of the difficulty of working in Minnesota. So I think his administration's been very hard on farmers and what's going on here in Minnesota. But just think about that on a national scale-- that's pretty worrisome.

CATHY WURZER: I'm curious how you think the governor stacks up against Donald Trump's running mate, Senator JD Vance. They both show rural roots.

MARK JOHNSON: Yeah, no, that'll be a fascinating debate. I'm really looking forward to seeing those two go head to head. JD Vance has been there. He's gone through the trenches. And so he'll have a really unique perspective against what Governor Walz has been seeing here in the state of Minnesota. And so I'm looking forward to seeing how those two compete going forward. But it'll be a neat match-up.

CATHY WURZER: So, there is a lot of excitement on the Democratic side because of the Walz-Harris tickets. The ticket looks like it's really igniting Democratic voters. How do you think this will impact down ballot races, especially those House races in greater Minnesota, statewide?

MARK JOHNSON: Yeah, that's going to be something that we're going to have to keep an eye on and analyze here going forward. But as the record of Governor Walz gets paraded out on a national scene, it'll be interesting to see what the impact is going to be because I am sure we're going to be pointing out over and over again the failures that he had in the administration that he operated here in the state, the burdens it's put on Minnesota families, businesses, farms, communities.

And so what that's going to look like going forward, I think that's probably going to help out Republicans in certain ways. So we'll see how this plays out. But I'm very optimistic for the down ballot on this situation.

CATHY WURZER: And the Congressional districts that are up for grabs, you think the same thing?

MARK JOHNSON: I think there's a real opportunity there. Yeah, they're going to be going along a lot of the same things as well. So, from my perspective, I think this is going to be a head-to-head battle on ideas and past performance. And so we've got the upper hand on that. Republicans are going to be working hard to prove their case. And this will be an opportunity to do that. And I'm very excited to see what that looks like.

CATHY WURZER: All right, Senator, I know you're busy. Thank you so much.

MARK JOHNSON: Hey, thank you. Appreciate the time.

CATHY WURZER: We've been talking to State Senate Minority Leader, Republican Mark Johnson.