Republican Gubernatorial Candidates React to Governor Tim Walz’s Re-Election Announcement

(KNSI) — Republican gubernatorial candidates are reacting to Governor Tim Walz’s official announcement of his re-election campaign Tuesday.

Senator Paul Gazelka released a statement saying the governor’s policies have been “disastrous” for Minnesota said he has “consistently shown weakness and hesitation in the face of lawlessness and rising crime.” Gazelka also called out Walz for how he has handled the coronavirus pandemic, saying he has failed to protect the elderly while “seriously damaging our economy and society with his overreach.”

Walz will be repeating his One Minnesota mantra that he used when he ran in 2018, but Gazelka says that is “not an appeal for unity; it is a cover for a coercive, one-size-fits-all approach to governing through more regulation and a bigger bite by government out of hard-working Minnesotans’ paychecks.”

Also vying for the Republican nod is Senator Michelle Benson, who, too, attacked Walz’s One Minnesota, saying that the governor promised a “One Minnesota vision where Minnesotans across the state would be valued and have a voice.” Something she calls an empty promise. Senator Benson says she has traveled around Minnesota and says those who live outstate feel “unheard and ignored” by Walz. She says people are telling her they no longer feel safe in their communities, and she doesn’t believe the governor is doing anything to help. Benson says law enforcement officers are also speaking up about the lack of support from the governor. She says the Walz-Flanagan administration has “failed” and “it’s time for new leadership.”

Dr. Scott Jensen, a former Senator, echoed Benson’s statement of failure of the Walz administration. He, too, attacked the governor’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic by locking down small businesses and locking the elderly in with the sick and said Walz was “asleep at the wheel during the riots of 2020 while labeling our national guard as ’19-year old cooks’; even now – as Tim Walz’s party activists push for a dismantling of the Minneapolis police department – he is failing to be the independent voice Minnesota needs during one of our most violent years.”

Republican National Committee spokesperson Preya Samsundar sent a statement to KNSI saying, “Tim Walz and Peggy Flanagan’s plan for One Minnesota put Joe Biden in the driver’s seat and left Minnesotans vulnerable to the Democrats’ failing policies. No amount of buffalo plaid or hot dish will distract voters from the fact that Minnesota is in shambles.”

Watch Governor Walz’s re-election campaign video:

___