ST. PAUL — Army veteran and former Congressional candidate Kendall Qualls on Sunday, Jan. 9, launched his bid for governor during a segment on "Fox and Friends."
The GOP hopeful enters an already crowded field aiming to clinch the Minnesota Republican Party's endorsement and nomination. And in his announcement, he said his campaign would "end the anti-American agenda pushed by Gov. Walz" and other Minnesota Democrats.
“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,” Qualls said in a news release. “We are not going to be the generation that lost the America that we have known and loved."
Qualls is a U.S. Army veteran and former vice president of data management company Triyam. The Republican candidate ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District in 2020 and has since launched TakeCharge MN , an organization that promotes the idea that America is "open and available to all individuals regardless of skin color or station in life."
The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and other progressive organizations on Sunday responded to Qualls' announcement saying the Republican used GOP talking points "in order to divide us."
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“Minnesotans in the third congressional district already rejected Kendall Qualls’ candidacy and I have no doubt it will happen again," DFL Party Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. "This move only makes the messy GOP primary messier with no benefit to Minnesotans.”
Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan last year announced their bid for reelection and have not encountered a challenge within the DFL. Republicans Michelle Benson, Paul Gazelka, Scott Jensen, Mike Murphy and Neil Shah have also thrown their hats in the ring to take on Walz in the general election.
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