Demuth and Klobuchar each outline their economic plans as Minnesota governor's race continues
The two candidates for Minnesota governor each pitched their plan for the economy on Monday.
The presentation was to the Economic Club of Minnesota, whose members include leaders of the Twin Cities business community. Not surprisingly, both Republican Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth and Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said they are the pro-business candidate.
"I don't like the status quo. I wouldn't be running for this job if I did," Klobuchar said.
At the Economic Club of Minnesota, both candidates spoke for five minutes and then answered questions from the former dean of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
"What we can fix in our government, do a cost-benefit analysis of what's going on, root out the fraud and my background as running the biggest prosecutor's office in Minnesota for eight years is gonna be very helpful on this front," Klobuchar said.
Demuth insists she is the agent of change
"If you want to change, this is an opportunity to make that change. If you are fine with the status quo, you're gonna get more of the same," Demuth said.
The House Speaker's entire campaign focuses on arguing that Klobuchar would be the third term of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.
"She is absolutely a part of the status quo and is disingenuous to tell Minnesotans she would be any kind of change," Demuth said.
Klobuchar says she would have handled the fraud crisis differently than Walz and that she is the one who got money for more federal prosecutors to fight fraud, but she stressed her campaign is also about a future Minnesota.
"It is also about growing our state, and there is a whole number of things we need to do, from cutting red tape, looking at, you know, if you don't get your permit in a certain amount of time, up or down, you get your money back," Klobuchar said.
Demuth says she is the one who will make Minnesota a more pro-business state.
"So, where I see areas for improvement, as your next governor, is making sure that we create a business environment that is pro-business, not anti-business, not delays in manufacturing, permitting or delays in what we need to do," Demuth said.
Klobuchar reminded the business leaders that she has worked with many of them in the past during her 20 years as a U.S. senator, and for years she had held Senate records for bipartisan work. Demuth says she is the ultimate in bringing both sides together after two years of negotiating in a tied Minnesota House.
