Republican Kendall Qualls to run for Minnesota governor in 2026
Republican Kendall Qualls, a businessman and Army veteran, launched his bid for Minnesota governor on Tuesday.
It's not the first time Qualls has sought public office; he made a gubernatorial run in 2022 but lost the GOP nomination to Scott Jensen. He also made an unsuccessful bid for the the 3rd Congressional District seat in 2020. Now he's one of the first to enter the race for the governor's office in 2026.
In 2021, Qualls founded the conservative advocacy group TakeCharge Minnesota.
"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.
Walz has yet to announce whether he'll run for a third term. While speaking on a podcast with The New Yorker in March, he also didn't rule out a presidential run in 2028.
The Minnesota DFL called Qualls a "far-right culture warrior obsessed with defunding public schools and trying to take away Minnesotans' access to health care and reproductive freedom."