https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/01/09/republican-kendall-qualls-launches-c
There’s a new candidate for Minnesota governor on the Republican side.
Kendall Qualls entered the race Sunday, after touring the state for months as head of a nonprofit called TakeCharge Minnesota. Qualls is an Army veteran and business executive who ran unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s 3rd district in 2020.
“I’m running for governor of Minnesota because we are at a crossroads in our country. For over a decade the radical left has morphed the culture of the country where it is not recognizable,” said Qualls in a statement. “We are not going to be the generation that lost the America that we have known and loved.”
Calling the state “ground zero for riots, looting and the defund the police movement,” Qualls said he will “end the anti-American agenda pushed by Governor Walz, Ilhan Omar and Keith Ellison.”
Qualls’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
He made the announcement on Fox and Friends, and joined a Republican field of about a half dozen candidates hoping to unseat DFL Gov. Tim Walz, who is running for reelection this year. The GOP field also includes state Sen. Michelle Benson; state Sen. Paul Gazelka; former state Sen. Scott Jensen; Lexington, Minn., Mayor Mike Murphy; and physician Neil Shah.