GOP candidates make 1st big pitch for governor

By Trey Mewes | Mankato Free Press

Guns, public safety and the COVID-19 pandemic dominated the list of concerns GOP candidates for governor addressed Wednesday at Minnesota State University.

Five of the six major candidates running for the GOP endorsement — former state Sen. Scott Jensen, former Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, Lexington Mayor Mike Murphy, dermatologist Neil Shah and business owner Mike Marti — shared thoughts, laid blame and called for Tim Walz to be a one-term governor at the forum, put on by Minnesota State University’s College Republicans.

The sixth candidate, Sen. Michelle Benson, was invited and advertised to appear at the forum but had a prior engagement, according to organizers. It was the first forum for GOP candidates for governor this election cycle.

There was little disagreement among the candidates on issues ranging from the Second Amendment (Minnesota should pass stand-your-ground and constitutional carry laws while banning red flag proposals) to the governor’s peacetime emergency powers (change them to give the Legislature more control). The same was true with taxation (give the state’s budget surplus back as a tax break while cutting taxes and regulations) to education (more school choice and less focus on diversity issues).

On pandemic regulations, all candidates criticized Walz for his shelter-in-place orders, business occupancy rules and mask mandates over the first year of the pandemic. Though many of those rules are no longer in place, several candidates criticized workplace mask and vaccine rules.

Each candidate stood firmly in support of public safety and gun rights issues. While they all agreed more police officers with better training were necessary, several candidates said more needed to be done to support law enforcement.

In spite of all they agreed on, the candidates largely differed in demeanor.

Shah and Murphy struck a more harsh tone throughout the night, blaming Gazelka, Jensen and other Republican state officials for not doing enough to champion GOP causes. Marti focused largely on how state decisions affect family — he said it was wrong for the state to force churches to close in light of pandemic regulations. Gazelka touted the conservative successes he’s overseen in the Senate while Jensen tried to frame his candidacy as for people, and against career politicians and special interests.

Jensen, considered the frontrunner for the GOP endorsement thus far, said he’d like to see more citizen engagement in everything from education to public safety, urging people to expand gun rights in Minnesota.

“Public safety is going to be a hard thing to retrieve, but I think we have to be honest with ourselves, “Jensen said. “We are going to have to take more responsibility for protecting ourselves and keeping ourselves safe than we have in decades.”

Gazelka agreed, saying last year’s civil unrest has caused more appetite among lawmakers to pass gun rights bills. He pointed out he and several other lawmakers carry guns while at the Capitol.

“Frankly, I wish I didn’t have to carry at the Capitol,” he said. “But the fact is I’ve had death threats. The fact is, (protesters) broke into the Senate building ... during the riots, and I felt more comfortable with the fact that I and a number of other folks carry.”

Shah stood out for some of his rhetoric, saying America was “under attack” by Walz and liberals. He argued judges and prosecutors need to be held accountable for offering plea bargains to some violent offenders.

At one point, he accused Democrats of potentially creating another pandemic situation during a discussion on ending the governor’s emergency powers. While talking about the “Never Again” bill put forth by Rep. Erick Mortensen of Shakopee, he said the U.S. “can never again have another pandemic.”

“I can guarantee the left is manufacturing the next one, probably in the lab in Wuhan,” Shah said. “And Anthony Fauci is probably funding it.”

Murphy called Walz a tyrant for his pandemic response regulations and criticized the media for portraying GOP critics of the public health regulations “QAnon conspiracists” and “Jan. 6 terrorists.” On education, he criticized public school teachers, administrators over diversity lessons and called the Department of Education “one of the biggest scams that have ruined America.”

Every candidate spoke out against critical race theory and called for more “American exceptionalism” to be taught, as Murphy put it.

Critical race theory involves lessons on how systemic racism perpetuates inequality throughout the U.S. It’s studied at the college and university level, but conservatives have seized on the name over the past year to describe racial equity programs many school districts instituted in response to last year’s racial reckoning.

While some candidates pointed out it’s appropriate to discuss all sides of an issue, all of them spoke out against what they saw as downplaying U.S. history focused on major milestones and figures such as George Washington or the D-Day invasion during World War II.

“Education of our children is the front lines of the battle for the future of our nation,” Shah said.

Forum attendees said they were pleased to see candidates focused on defeating Walz, regardless of who gets the GOP endorsement.

Rebecca Mass, 37, and her sister Kimberly Mass, 33, say they were impressed with Shah and Murphy for their business acumen and their outsider status among candidates with more political experience.

“(Murphy) seems to be more of a rebel,” Rebecca said. “He’s really got a take-charge attitude.”

Rebecca, who describes herself as more of a moderate, said she was pleased to see candidates focus on Second Amendment issues during the forum.

Kimberly, a Libertarian, said she’s a little more cautious concerning a candidate’s political experience. The Waseca native watched a lot of people lose their jobs during the pandemic and she wants the next governor to work more for the people than support the government status quo.

“I’m just worried about bribes and being too swayed by lobbyists,” she said.

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