Mike Murphy sat down with Alpha News Tuesday for a discussion about current issues. The 36-year-old mayor of Lexington, Minn., was the first Republican to announce his candidacy for governor. Murphy is a former police officer who has been a small business owner for more than 16 years.
Alpha News (AN): What are the biggest issues facing Minnesota?
Mike Murphy (MM): Taxes, schools and election integrity.
Corporations are fleeing Minnesota due to high taxes. Employers can’t hire because people are living off government payouts. Small business owners like myself cannot find employees.
Schools must return to teaching common-sense, life skills, trades, and creating productive members of society, instead of being indoctrination facilities for woke culture and the fringe left. The riots here are a recent example.
You need an ID for 99% of what we do. It’s not very hard to get one for free, and it’s not hard to clean out voter rolls. Other countries have stricter voting rules. Democrats don’t want it (to fix election rules) because it’ll kick them out of power.
AN: What has Gov. Walz done that hurts our state?
MM: His outrageous gas tax was the start. Minnesotans can only deal with so much tax. He’s taken people’s voices away and handled the pandemic badly, using political science instead of actual science; now we have emails exposing it. He won’t denounce Antifa and BLM for their terroristic actions last summer. He’s also passed insane executive orders and is not transparent.
AN: How can your business and political experience help you lead Minnesota?
MM: After six years in law enforcement, I used my savings to buy a business with my dad. We now span across Minnesota and Wisconsin, employing 25 people. We always balance our budget. I see a vast difference between Wisconsin and Minnesota on payroll taxes. As mayor, I’ve seen crime go down here and in surrounding communities by 20%, with no property tax increases for four years, and we’ve had $175 million in economic development the last two years.
AN: What do you think of the GOP’s current direction?
MM: The Minnesota GOP and RNC are figuring out the current state of the party and coming up with good strategies to regroup and get messaging back on track. (Minnesota GOP Chair) Jennifer Carnahan has done a phenomenal job and has energy to lead the fight to flip seats.
AN: Which governors today do you admire?
MM: Ron Desantis, Kristi Noem and Greg Abbott are firebrands, who believe in the cause. They make statements and follow up with action. People like waking up knowing their liberties are intact, and their leaders aren’t ruining prosperity and promoting hate and division like Walz and (Minnesota Attorney General) Keith Ellison.
AN: How is your campaign going?
MM: We started with 2,000 emails and now have 186,000 subscribers. We have many unique donors; we are taking phone calls and fundraising daily. I have a phenomenal campaign team and consultants who know what Minnesota needs and how to win elections. We have scheduled 80 engagements through July.
A.J. Kaufman
A.J. Kaufman is an Alpha News columnist. His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, Israel National News, Orange County Register, St. Cloud Times, Star-Tribune, and across AIM Media Midwest and the Internet. Kaufman previously worked as a school teacher and military historian.
