Finally getting around to this

I saw this news this past Sunday, but only after I went off the air on my weekly radio show. 

Kendall Qualls announced a run for governor Sunday in a brief, exclusive appearance on "Fox & Friends," joining a crowded field of GOP candidates looking to unseat DFL Gov. Tim Walz.

The Army veteran and former health care executive who unsuccessfully ran as a political newcomer in Minnesota's Third Congressional District in 2020 repeated some of the talking points from that campaign during his gubernatorial announcement on Sunday.

Qualls told Fox that he was filing as a candidate on the Republican ticket "because in our state we were ground zero — all of the rioting, looting and defunding the police initiatives all started and spread across the country."

"And even now, two years later, we're suffering from record crime across our state," he said. "And in the center of it all is our governor, Tim Walz, for allowing that to happen, his weak leadership..."

Over the final few months of 2021, I had on multiple occasions received fliers in the mail promoting a "Draft Kendall Qualls for Governor" movement. One of the first hints that Qualls was inspired by these efforts was late December when he resigned his leadership post with TakeCharge MN, an organization which he founded. Qualls then confirmed the speculation with his announcement a few days ago. 

Oh, and the DFL response to Qualls' candidacy? Boilerplate stuff. 

 

In a statement about Qualls' candidacy, DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin wrote that Qualls endorsed and voted for Donald Trump, "whose policies put millions of Americans' health care and livelihoods in jeopardy, and now he is traveling the state pushing extreme (DRINK!!! - ed.)  Republican talking points in order to divide us."

"Minnesotans in the Third Congressional District already rejected Kendall Qualls's candidacy and I have no doubt it will happen again," Martin wrote. "This move only makes the messy GOP primary messier with no benefit to Minnesotans."

I'm all for several options when it comes to choosing a party's candidate to run in a general election, but I fear Qualls is a bit late to the party. While I am no longer a GOP activist, I get a sense from those in the know that Dr. Neil Shah is the sleeper candidate to compete with the likes of Dr. Scott Jensen (who's compiled an impressive fundraising haul) and State Sens. Michelle Benson & Paul Gazelka. As such, I just don't see where Qualls peels away support for those candidates unless there are more MNGOP "undecideds" than I am aware of. 

The good news for Qualls is there seems to be multiple candidate forums at which he can appear and make his pitch. If indeed he's abiding by the MNGOP endorsement (which I doubt), he'll have to make a significant impression within the short amount of time before caucuses. For now, he's definitely a long shot to be the party's nominee. 

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