WASECA — Tuesday was another stop on the road to the 2026 election. Literally.
Mike Lindell, one of the candidates running for governor in Minnesota, is hosting town halls across the state. The latest stop took place Tuesday at the Mill Event Center in Waseca, a city that doesn’t usually play host to events like this.
“I think rural America is God’s country,” said Royce White, a senate candidate who also spoke at the town hall. “People in rural America are less affected by some of the ideologies that have become so corrosive in the metropolitan areas.”
Lindell and White were two of the three candidates — Minnesota Secretary of State candidate Wendy Phillips was the other — who spoke to the crowd of about 100 on Tuesday. Not everyone there was dead set on voting for those candidates.
“We’re undecided as far as what candidate we’re voting for, but we also want to hear people’s stances on certain issues,” Chris Schlueter said.
Schlueter was there with his wife, Lisa. The pair are from Waterville and travelled to the Mill to hear the candidates speak.
“This is the first time we were able to participate in a town hall meeting type setting,” Chris said.
Some of the biggest issues the two are concerned about are mandates that will benefit greater Minnesota, and not just the metro area, education reforms and the economy. But the first concern they brought up is a familiar one across Minnesota: Fraud.
“Our taxpayer money was wasted and lost. What is going to be done about that in the future?” Lisa asked.
The event comes at an important time, as Lindell paints this election as being critical for Minnesotans as well as Republicans.
“Every person needs to be educated on how important this midterm election is. This is the most critical midterm election in Minnesota’s history,” Lindell said. “I don’t trust any of the Republicans other than myself to win this.”
As for what makes this election so important, Lindell points to the challenge from the other side.
“You have to beat Amy Klobuchar, we have to start now. I do expect to get the GOP endorsement, I’m hoping I do,” he said.
White views himself as part of that fight. At 35, he classifies himself on the younger side of politicians. To him, that’s an important demographic to put into office.
“It’s incumbent upon young people to continue to run until we break the levy,” he said. “We’re going to be discouraged by the establishment, by the machine, by the powers that be (and) by the old guard. We’re going to be blocked by them as much as they possibly can. If we can fight through that and wait them out, we’ll be victorious at some point.”