Maple Grove Republican state Representative Kristin Robbins announced this morning through a campaign video that she's running for governor. The chair of the house fraud prevention committee taking direct aim at Governor Tim Walz on a host of issues.
"Tim Walz is a disaster and an embarrassment," Robbins says in the video. "He's obsessed with the radical culture war against our daughters, letting biological boys into girl's bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams. Walz even wants Minnesota to be a sanctuary state for illegals. The American people looked at Tim Walz and said no thanks."
She also added Walz “finally has a serious opponent” because Robbins “has consistently over-performed in the suburbs."
Robbins is also taking aim at the issues Minnesota has had with fraud, especially in the massive Feeding Our Future scheme, and more recently the Minnesota Department of Human Services' Housing Stabilization Services program.
"I'm leading the fight to stop the fraud and hold government accountable," Robbins explained. "I'm working to strengthen our schools and support our police. As governor, I'll stop the insanity, bring back common sense and make Minnesota work for you."
Speaking to Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News Wednesday, Robbins was asked how she would have differed from Walz in dealing with these fraud issues.
"No one has been fired, no one has been sanctioned," says Robbins. "Instead, they just move the deck chairs around on the Titanic and people go into different jobs. But no one has ever been fired, and it's the lack of accountability is what has allowed fraud to flourish in Minnesota."
Governor Walz has yet to announce his future plans. He says he'll not make the decision until after Labor Day. A recent Star Tribune report notes that those closest to Walz say he might be wavering on running for a third term. It appeared to be a foregone conclusion he would enter the race. But reports say Walz was has since reconsidered, especially after the June 14 assassination of Melissa Hortman who he was close to, and perhaps considered as a candidate for his Lt. Governor with Peggy Flanagan now entering the race for U.S. Senate in 2026.
If Walz doesn't run for an unprecedented third consecutive term in Minnesota, it would set up a wide-open race for Governor with several possible Democratic candidates.
Robbins joins a somewhat crowded GOP field over a year from the election. Others who have announced a run for the nomination include Kendall Qualls and Dr. Scott Jensen, who lost to Walz by over 6-points in the 2022 election.
WCCO political analyst Blois Olson says Robbins has an advantage over the other Republican candidates in the suburbs, a key group of voters for the GOP in statewide races.
"She's going to appeal to suburbanites, probably maybe a little more than Kendall Qualls or Scott Jensen, and adds to what is going to be a kind of a crowded and rough and tumble Republican field as well," says Olson.
The last time a Republican won the governorship - and any statewide race in Minnesota - was Tim Pawlenty in 2006.
There has been some DFL response to Robbins' candidacy, including from Minnesota DFL Chair Richard Carlbom.
"A Kristin Robbins governorship would be disastrous for working-class Minnesotans," Carlbom says. "Kristin Robbins spent the last year attempting to take meals away from students and paid leave away from their parents. She has a long-standing history of turning her back on those who need our support now more than ever. However, Robbins isn’t just cruel. She’s the antithesis of transparent leadership, hiding behind a carefully calculated persona while advancing Trump’s radical agenda. Our party is ready to introduce the state to Robbins’ out-of-touch policies and inauthenticities.”