Governor hopeful meets fair visitors
Tom Sexton and Lisa Demuth Rep. Tom Sexton, District 19B, and GOP gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth were at the Steele County Free Fair last Saturday morning to meet and hear concerns from the voters.
Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Lisa Demuth made a stop at the Steele County Free Fair Saturday morning, meeting voters at the GOP booth in the Four Seasons Centre.
Demuth served as Speaker of the House during the last sessions and won her place on the Nov. 3 ballot by defeating party-endorsed Kendall Qualls and Mike Lindell. She now faces DFL candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the November general election.
With the primary win behind her, Demuth said she now has her eyes set on the general election.
As she travels the state, Demuth said, what she is hearing most from the people is anger about the fraud that has surfaced in the state.
“They’re angry about the fraud,” she said. Minnesotans are feeling disrespected and frustrated by state leaders.
On her first day, she said, she will replace all the commissioners and deputy commissioners and replace them with experts in their fields.
She added that fraud prevention measures have already passed the Legislature under her House leadership, including the creation of an independent Office of Inspector General who is empowered with law enforcement tools to root out fraud across state government.
Minnesota needs new leadership, she said, as a Klobuchar governership will be the same as a third term for Tim Walz. Klobuchar has been running for office for 30 years and away from Minnesota for 20 years as senator and would not be able to make the needed changes.
Another of her priorities, she said, will be to make Minnesota more affordable and said there will be no tax increases while she is governor. Taxes on social security should be eliminated and there need to be fewer mandates on businesses and the state should be supporting business.
Her third priority, she said, is education. Despite years of increased investment, test scores have stagnated and only half of the state’s students are reading at grade level.
Reading literacy and academic excellence needs to be at the center of the agenda and parents need to make the best decisions for their kids, she said.
Education must prepare the student for what comes next in their life, she said, and she said she approves of the shift into trades and the outreach of some schools and community colleges with the business community.
It is no longer “one size fits all,” she said, as to education needs of students beyond high school. Choices must be made available, she said, given the interest of students in trades and the cost of higher education.
Demuth said despite the primary differences and her defeating the endorsed candidate, the party is coming together to support her candidacy.
“I was pleased Qualls put out the message he did,” after the election. All the constitutional candidates are ready for a fresh start.
She said despite the polarization of the legislature, they have proved they can work together. While there was no cooperation during the time of the DFL “trifecta” in 2023-2024, things were better last session when government was more divided between the parties.
“We found we needed to work together,” she said.
She said she has proven herself to be a bipartisan leader and during the next session the two parties need to look at working together for Minnesotans.