Dr. Scott Jensen sat down with Liz Collin this week at the Alpha News studio to discuss what his campaign will look like moving forward from the GOP endorsement.
Last weekend, Jensen earned the party’s seal of approval in his race for the governor’s office.
Jensen acknowledged that Gov. Tim Walz enjoys incumbent and fundraising advantages. However he apparently remains undaunted in the face of these challenges. “He [Walz]will have 5 to 10 times more money than we have,” Jensen said, referencing a recent infusion of outside money into Walz’s campaign; “but I’ve seen the way Democrats spend money, and I can do more with one dollar than he can do with 10,” the doctor concluded.
Jensen continued, explaining that he seeks to bring Minnesota Republicans together after a tense, scrappy endorsing convention. “Let’s unify,” he said, explaining that with the support of Republicans across the state he can run a “relentless” campaign against Walz.
Walz is “affable, he puts on a good show,” Jensen observed, before pledging to highlight the governor’s slow response to the George Floyd riots, his controversial COVID policies and the current state of law enforcement in the Twin Cities. Jensen hopes these points will serve as evidence for why swing voters should make a rightward shift this election cycle.
At the bottom line of his campaign is a simple message: “We are going to focus on one over arching thing, the over intrusive nature of government.” Jensen says that by “right sizing” government, he believes Minnesota can become a more livable state for Republicans and Democrats alike.
Jensen also dove into specifics on a variety of important issues.
On law enforcement he said “we need to respect the work police do.” He also suggested that the justice system should do better to keep criminals in jail, saying courts “need to use incarceration as a tool to keep repeat felons off the streets.”
On a related note, he clarified his stance on Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center police officer who accidently shot and killed Daunte Wright last year, and who is now in jail serving a manslaughter sentence. Jensen says he’s not interested in pardoning Potter, but that he feels she’s been punished enough for what the courts acknowledge was an accident.
Jensen says Potter’s sentence should be commuted, getting her “out of incarceration,” instead serving her debt to society in another way. “What exactly is Kim Potter doing in jail?” he asked.
Jensen also clarified his recent statements on State Secretary of State Steve Simon that suggest the official should be in jail. Jensen did not back down from this stance: “If we find that he [Simon] knowingly violated his oath of office, without question there will be accountability.”
Finally, Jensen addressed controversial event during which he shared the front of a room with embattled DFL State Rep. John Thompson who has been accused of domestic abuse and has a long history of run ins with law enforcement. Jensen says that he disagrees with the way Thompson conducts his life, but that “he represents a group of people who deserve to have a voice.”
Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
