Minnesota Republican announces campaign for governor, vows to ‘fix’ what Tim Walz ‘broke’

FIRST ON FOX: Army veteran and business executive Kendall Qualls has officially launched his campaign to challenge former Democrat vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz to be the next governor of Minnesota. 

While Walz has not yet formally announced a third consecutive gubernatorial bid, Qualls, who also ran for governor in 2022, framed the race for Minnesota's highest office as an opportunity to fix the problems Walz created. 

"I'm running because, after a 16-year reign of failed leadership, the citizens of Minnesota are looking for a different direction. They're looking for new leadership, and I'm here to make sure they get it," Qualls told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview ahead of his campaign launch on Tuesday night. 

In a statement shared first with Fox News Digital, Qualls said he is the only candidate who can help Minnesota reach its potential. 

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Kendall Qualls, right, is running to replace Tim Walz as governor of Minnesota. (Getty Images)

"I don’t need to tell you that Minnesota is at a crossroads," Qualls said in a statement. "Tim Walz took us further down the road of lost jobs, fleeing companies, rising crime and cratering education. Now, he’s spending more time outside the state on a vanity tour than he is trying to move Minnesota forward. That’s not leadership."

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Qualls explained that Minnesotans want to build the economy, feel safe in their communities and improve education, but "we're not going to get any of those changes from Tim Walz."

"I’m the only candidate who can help Minnesota live up to its potential. If we are going to fix the budget Tim Walz broke, we need a proven leader with real-world business experience. If we are going to take back our streets and our classrooms, we need a candidate with a conservative backbone and law and order credentials," Qualls said. 

Qualls said the only way to create the change that Minnesotans are asking for is to bring in a political outsider like himself. 

Qualls compared himself to President Donald Trump for being a political outsider with a business background. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

"Much like President Trump with his experience in business and leadership, my background has been in business. And before that, I was an officer in the United States Army. And even before that, I grew up in dire poverty. I know that there's a formula for success in this country, even if we don't come from a background of privilege," Qualls said. 

The gubernatorial candidate said he wants Americans to know there is a pathway forward in the United States for anyone to succeed, regardless of their background or where they went to school. But Qualls said the government has a responsibility to get out of the way of those pathways to success. 

"There are pathways out. And unfortunately, what I'm finding with the Democrats is that they have been closing those doors of prosperity. When I turned 18 years old, I registered as a Republican, and I never looked back. I didn't know any Republicans. I didn't have a country club membership, but what I did know was what the Democrats were doing in the Black community was something I didn't want to be a part of. They weren't helping. They were making things worse," Qualls said, who grew up in poverty in Harlem in New York and in a trailer park in Oklahoma. 

Gov. Tim Walz has not yet announced a third consecutive campaign for governor of Minnesota. (AP/Matthew Putney)

While Qualls is presenting his campaign as the only alternative to what he describes as the destruction of Minnesota's current Democrat rule, it's not his first time running for the state's highest office. 

"In this last election, I finished number two out of seven candidates in the Republican endorsement process. I agreed to abide by the endorsement. I actually endorsed. The candidate that won. But unfortunately, in that election in 2022, we lost everything, the governorship, Senate, House, attorney general, everything. And a lot of people felt that maybe we had the wrong candidate at the top of the ticket," Qualls said. 

But Qualls said this time is different. 

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"I worked around the state for four years helping candidates raise money, just rallying the troops," Qualls said. "There's a sense of true leadership that people haven't seen before."

Leaning on his increased name recognition this time around, Qualls said he is focused on building a grassroots coalition of Minnesota Republicans who are ready for change. 

Walz did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.