Ashley Thoma joined Liz Collin on her podcast to talk about what she called an incredibly difficult decision to leave Minnesota and move her family to another state.
WATCH:
“There wasn’t necessarily a final straw. It was just looking at the fact that we were just repeating mistakes. We keep repeating things and our leaders don’t seem to acknowledge them and want change,” Thoma said.
In a recent social media post, she wrote: “I don’t understand how anyone can look at Minnesota and think, ‘Yep, this is working and let’s keep it the same.'”
In looking back over everything that has happened in Minnesota over the past several years, Thoma said her decision to leave the state she grew up in had more to do with “just an accumulation of things over the years.”
“For probably the last six years, every so often, we would kind of sit down and think about where things were headed here. And we would think about, is this going to get better? Is this where we want to raise our family and really establish them as adults as they, you know, enter into their teen years? And we were always just waiting for it to get better and it never seemed to get better,” she explained.
“I grew up in this state. The state has been a Democratic state for a very long time. And that’s never been something I was concerned about, but then I’m watching the state through my children’s eyes and it changes perspective completely,” she continued.
Thoma also spoke about how public safety and education were two concerns that influenced her decision to leave.
“I think about going into Minneapolis and I don’t want to go to the Twins games because I don’t want to bring my kids into Minneapolis because it doesn’t feel safe to me,” Thoma said. “I remember going downtown Minneapolis as, you know, a 20-some-year-old and, you know, I was never concerned the way I am now.”
“There would be nightlife and it would be lively and it would be fun. And there was always general awareness as you were downtown at night. But now even going downtown during the day, you’re kind of always looking over your shoulder … so we just avoid going down there at all,” she added.
Education
Thoma said she wasn’t too concerned when her oldest son started kindergarten because she “just had positive experiences with school growing up.”
“But then you start to hear these rumblings of different things that they’re going to teach or different things that might come through, right? When we talked about critical race theory and now there are versions of that in Minnesota schools,” she said.
Along with education, Thoma spoke about the bigger picture and what the future might look like for her kids if they stayed in Minnesota.
“Thinking about what that looks like when they enter the workforce — and watching our property taxes raise $250 over the last three years — is insane to me,” she said.
“You know, we have one of the highest state income taxes and then we have these high property taxes and it’s like, how is this sustainable for my kids’ future?” Thoma added
Mixed reactions
Along with sharing her reasons for leaving Minnesota, Thoma also spoke about the mixed reactions that people have had after telling them about her plans.
“I do get a lot of mixed reactions. I think there’s a lot of people who ultimately want to go as well,” Thoma explained.
She also spoke about hoping for the best for her family — and for Minnesota — as she wrote in a social media post after the elections.
“Now that we are leaving, I almost feel survivor’s guilt … I’ll be praying for this state always,” she wrote.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 100,000 left Minnesota in 2024 but most of that was replaced by people moving into the state.
Wisconsin has drawn the highest number of Minnesotans leaving the state, but Florida is second in line — followed by North Dakota, Texas, and Arizona.
Minnesota has been receiving the most new residents from Wisconsin, California, and North Dakota.
Liz Collin
Liz Collin is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning investigative reporter, news anchor, and producer who cares about Minnesota. She is the producer of The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People documentary films, and author of the Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd. Her work has prompted important state laws. Yet perhaps most of all, Liz has been giving a voice to the truth—and helping others tell their stories—for more than 20 years.
Dr. JC Chaix
Dr. JC Chaix is an editor, educator, and an expert in media studies. He wrote and directed the Alpha News documentary "The Fall of Minneapolis" and "Minnesota v We the People."
