Minnesota governor candidates take the stage for debates this week
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The leading candidates for Minnesota governor will face off for the first time during events in greater Minnesota this week.
Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Republican Lisa Demuth will appear at a business forum in Brainerd on Monday morning and in a televised debate Wednesday evening in Rochester.
The candidates have done some other joint events on housing, business and aging — but this is the first real head-to-head since Farmfest back in August, prior to the primary election.
The one-on-one match ups come with a little more than two weeks to go until Election Day, and polls show Klobuchar with a lead in the race. But the events give candidates a platform to address the eight or so percent of Minnesota voters who’ve yet to make up their minds. In the meantime, both candidates have been talking about public safety and ongoing concerns about fraud.
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Suburban shootings raise questions on addressing crime
A pair of recent shootings in Edina and Eden Prairie prompted candidates to highlight their stances on addressing public safety.
In an ad showing her at the Edina basketball court and Eden Prairie football stadium where recent shootings took place and at a news conference outside a Minneapolis police precinct last week, Demuth called for a gang violence prevention task force. And she said Minnesota needs to elect someone who would take a tougher tack on crime.
“I would have acted as soon as we saw these problems emerging,” Demuth said. “When I'm governor, crises like we see with Somali gangs will be addressed head-on instead of just hoping that the gang violence will go away on its own.”
Demuth said state aid for cities should go to police before other needs like infrastructure. And she said she’d appoint judges who would impose tougher sentences for violent crimes.
Klobuchar pointed to her former job as Hennepin County attorney. And she too called for a gang violence prevention task force along with additional regulations on guns.
“Our law enforcement should have the support they need to keep Minnesotans safe and put criminals behind bars. And our criminal justice system must keep people safe and be based on justice,” Klobuchar said. “Just as I said from the moment I took the oath of office as Hennepin County Attorney, public safety is the first responsibility of government, and as governor, I will keep you safe.”
Klobuchar also launched an ad echoing that theme from a courtroom.
Another crime, fraud, still front of mind
Addressing fraud in state government programs has been a priority for both gubernatorial candidates throughout their campaigns. But they have different ideas on how to fix it.
Klobuchar is calling for an audit of state government right away. She said she plans to bring in an independent senior leader as part of her administration. That person would work with the new inspector general, commissioners she appoints and the Office of the Legislative Auditor to find potential places that could let money leak.
“My focus basically with this audit, top to bottom, is if it works, keep it. If it doesn't, fix it or end it,” Klobuchar said. “This person is going to be in charge of coordinating on an agency-by-agency basis to both root out the fraud and then also to make sure that we are saving money and delivering better results.”
Demuth agrees there needs to be more inspection of where government money is going. But she said that might be done by in-house investigators within departments or a third-party group. She also said action steps would be directed by Legislative Auditor reports that have highlighted potential problems in state government.
“Hiring forensic auditors, if we need to do that outside of what we already have, we are open to that,” Demuth said. “But that is yet to be determined. We have to take care of this as soon as possible because it's been allowed to go on for much too long.”
Demuth is also proposing the state create an anti-fraud task force to be led by her running mate Ryan Wilson.
Both are also pitching whistleblower protections, unannounced site visits and putting more funding toward the outdated systems used to get signed up for government assistance.
