The campaign for governor of Minnesota is in full swing. The two major party candidates for the office, DFL U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth, are both campaigning across the state while political ads blanket state airwaves.
Klobuchar, a four-term senator, is promising to audit Minnesota state government, ban cellphones in classrooms, and lower healthcare costs. Meanwhile, Demuth, the top Republican in the state legislature, wants to cut taxes, cap car tab fees at $99, and combat fraud.
The race between the two candidates has tightened in recent days, although Klobuchar still leads Demuth by seven points, according to recent polling.
What Minnesotans might not know is that this year’s ballot features a third option for governor — Steve Young. No, not the Hall of Fame quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, this Steve Young is a Green Party candidate that could split the left-wing vote.
Anti-ICE candidate, pro-sanctuary state candidate
A former U.S. Marine and corporate attorney, Young is running for governor of Minnesota with Jane Kirby as his lieutenant governor running mate.
On his campaign website, Young describes himself as a “repentant former U.S. Marine who used his ill-gotten skills to help train and defend various neighborhood groups this winter,” a reference to Operation Metro Surge.
As many know, Operation Metro Surge was an immigration enforcement effort conducted by the federal government last winter in Minnesota. Opposition to that effort appears to have been a significant motivating factor in Young’s candidacy for governor.
In an August interview with The North Star Independent, Young said he resigned from his job as a corporate attorney when Operation Metro Surge began in December and “hit the streets, sucking down tear gas and wrasslin’ ICE agents.”
During that interview, Young said he was part of a crowd of people who yelled at ICE agents and threw snowballs at them on the day Renee Good was killed. He has repeatedly referred to federal immigration detention centers as a “concentration camps.”
In that same interview, Young, who currently works as a light rail conductor, said the two major parties are “two sides of the same coin.”
A self-described “socialist,” Young was endorsed earlier this year by the Red River Valley Democratic Socialists of America. He is running on a platform to abolish ICE, make Minnesota a sanctuary state, and ban hyperscale data centers.
According to the Minnesota Green Party’s website, Young also supports a guaranteed basic income, single-payer healthcare, protections for the environment, and the boycott, divest, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
Of course, many if not all of Young’s positions are also held by much of the DFL Party’s base. As such, Young’s presence on the November general election ballot could attract left-wing voters who are frustrated by Klobuchar’s record and looking for a different candidate.
Young has made his distaste for Klobuchar clear in recent months, criticizing her in a June interview for funding “the genocide in Gaza.” In that interview, Young referred to Klobuchar as a “bonafide war criminal” and said “more and more people see that.”
Additionally, Young slammed Klobuchar in July for her association with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. Specifically, Young described Graham as an “evil goblin,” slammed Klobuchar for calling Graham her “friend,” and added that Klobuchar was complicit in genocide.
According to a KSTP/SurveyUSA poll from mid-September, Young polled at 3% in the race for Minnesota governor. Meanwhile, Klobuchar polled at 47% and Demuth was at 40%. Another 9% of poll respondents were undecided.
‘Lisa Demuth and Amy Klobuchar are sellouts’
Alpha News contacted Young with questions for this story. Among other things, Young was asked if he believed his candidacy could draw left-wing votes from Klobuchar and result in Demuth winning the gubernatorial election.
“I believe that my campaign will get more votes from folks who would otherwise not be voting for governor, as very few left-wing folks would ever end up voting for Amy Klobuchar because of her record and because her governorship would hardly be different from that of Lisa Demuth,” Young told Alpha News.
Additionally, Young said he is actively campaigning, “though not in a way that corporate media would understand or appreciate,” and he believes he has a better chance of winning the election than Demuth.
“I would like to think that the two corporate parties will split the rich vote, and I’ll get the many more votes of people who work for a living and who get screwed over by politicians who are bought and sold,” Young said.
“However, there are plenty of goofballs who focus more on culture warfare nonsense who will probably ensure a victory for the wealthy by voting for Amy Klobuchar,” he added.
Young described both Klobuchar and Demuth as “sellouts” and said they did not “step up and serve the community” when ICE was in Minnesota. He also said he is “confident” about his campaign because his anti-ICE and anti-data center platform cuts “across party lines.”
In the past, Young has also suggested that Minnesotans stop paying federal taxes so money does not go to Israel or the military. Young repeated that position in an email to Alpha News, saying, “under me, we’ll all stop paying federal taxes. Ain’t nobody around here wants our money going to bomb kids in Iran.”
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
