Republican Kendall Qualls has launched a bid for governor, making him the highest-profile Republican to join the 2026 race.
Qualls, an Army veteran and business executive from Medina, launched his campaign Tuesday night at Rojo Mexican Grill in St. Louis Park. The event drew roughly 300 supporters, according to the campaign, and featured remarks from Qualls, his wife, Sheila, and former Minnesota Senate President Dave Osmek.
“Our state deserves better,” Qualls told Forum News Service on Tuesday. “We’re a better state than the leadership that we currently have. We’re now in a budget deficit, more violent crime than we’ve ever had in our state — that never used to be the character of Minnesota.”
Qualls had an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2022 when he lost in the Republican primary to former state Sen. Scott Jensen. He also unsuccessfully ran for Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District in 2020. Qualls grew up in Harlem, N.Y., and Oklahoma, according to his campaign. He later served as an artillery officer in the Army before earning his MBA from the University of Michigan.
Qualls spoke to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s tenure during his remarks Tuesday. Walz says he is weighing a bid for reelection and what would be an unprecedented three consecutive terms if he won. The former vice presidential candidate said last month that he won’t make a decision at least until the legislative session ends on May 19.
“Tim Walz’s failures are well known locally,” Qualls said to his supporters Tuesday. “We knew about him way before he made it in the national scene. We know exactly what we’re gonna get from this governor, or whoever the Democrats decide to put in his place.”
Richard Carlbom, chair of the Minnesota DFL, said in a statement that Qualls is “a far-right culture warrior.”
“Minnesotans don’t want leaders who embrace that kind of extremism, which is why they have already rejected Kendall Qualls twice,” Carlbom said. “If he manages to survive the chaotic and divisive Republican primary, the Minnesota DFL will be ready to hold Kendall Qualls accountable for his plans to bring the chaos and extremism of the Trump administration to Minnesota government.”
Other Republicans in the race are Phillip Parrish, a former U.S. naval intelligence officer from Kenyon, and Brad Kohler, a former UFC heavyweight professional fighter from Bloomington.
A Republican hasn’t won statewide office in Minnesota since 2006, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty won his bid for governor.
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