Kendall Qualls, right, is running to replace Tim Walz as governor of Minnesota. (Getty Images)
"I don’t need to tell you that Minnesota is at a crossroads," Qualls said in a statement. "Tim Walz took us further down the road of lost jobs, fleeing companies, rising crime and cratering education. Now, he’s spending more time outside the state on a vanity tour than he is trying to move Minnesota forward. That’s not leadership."
Qualls explained that Minnesotans want to build the economy, feel safe in their communities and improve education, but "we're not going to get any of those changes from Tim Walz."
"I’m the only candidate who can help Minnesota live up to its potential. If we are going to fix the budget Tim Walz broke, we need a proven leader with real-world business experience. If we are going to take back our streets and our classrooms, we need a candidate with a conservative backbone and law and order credentials," Qualls said.
Qualls said the only way to create the change that Minnesotans are asking for is to bring in a political outsider like himself.
Gov. Tim Walz has not yet announced a third consecutive campaign for governor of Minnesota. (AP/Matthew Putney)
While Qualls is presenting his campaign as the only alternative to what he describes as the destruction of Minnesota's current Democrat rule, it's not his first time running for the state's highest office.
"In this last election, I finished number two out of seven candidates in the Republican endorsement process. I agreed to abide by the endorsement. I actually endorsed. The candidate that won. But unfortunately, in that election in 2022, we lost everything, the governorship, Senate, House, attorney general, everything. And a lot of people felt that maybe we had the wrong candidate at the top of the ticket," Qualls said.
But Qualls said this time is different.
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"I worked around the state for four years helping candidates raise money, just rallying the troops," Qualls said. "There's a sense of true leadership that people haven't seen before."
Leaning on his increased name recognition this time around, Qualls said he is focused on building a grassroots coalition of Minnesota Republicans who are ready for change.
Walz did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/minnesota-republican-announces-campaign-governor-vows-fix-what-tim-walz-broke