MANKATO — Republican Rep. Lisa Demuth, speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, made a campaign stop in Mankato on Friday as part of a push to get voters to the polls a little early for the primary.
“We know that in August, a lot of times people are still on vacation or trying to get in those last few trips before school starts, and sometimes our later primary, people kind of miss that. And this is a window and opportunity for people to come in and make sure that their vote is cast across the state,” Demuth said.
She was referring to the beginning of absentee and mail-in voting, which kicked off on Friday. The early voting period, where residents can vote in-person, begins on July 24.
Demuth also focused on what Minnesota would look like with her as governor, describing it as a “Minnesota comeback.”
“It is a message of the fact that these are common sense values: affordability, education, safe communities. These are messages that resonate across the state, and that’s what we’ve been hearing over the last eight to nine months,” she said.
A recent KSTP/SurveyUSA survey that polled 450 potential Republican voters found that MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell lead the pack of GOP gubernatorial candidates with 27% of respondents voting in favor. He’s followed closely by Demuth at 22%. It’s a change from a February straw poll that saw Demuth leading the pack, but Demuth says she’s sure she can overcome that gap.
“I’ve got that proven leadership. One of the things I’ll mention, as polls are coming out, you’ve seen that (DFL gubernatorial candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar) is under 50% in her favorability, likability and the ability to lead this state as governor. What we don’t need in the state of Minnesota is a Tim Walz third term. We need change here in the state and I’m ready to deliver on that,” Demuth said.
Earlier this month, another KSTP/SurveyUSA poll found Klobuchar’s approval rating was around 48%, unchanged from a similar poll six months prior.
One of the focuses of Demuth’s campaign has been the fraud happening across Minnesota. It’s a situation she blames Klobuchar for, as well as the DFL members of the state legislature, but says she has no responsibility for.
“Sen. Klobuchar has not done anything to protect our federal tax dollars from the fraud that has taken place, so you think of Feeding Our Future and some of those other federal tax dollars. You didn’t hear a word about protecting our federal tax dollars from Sen. Klobuchar, nothing at all,” Demuth said. “As far as being in the legislature, I’ve only served in the minority, and I had a bill back in 2019 that would have had daily attendance records for childcare centers receiving assistance. We couldn’t get that over the finish line because Democrats in the majority did not want to talk about fraud.”