MINNESOTA
     Governor—Republican State Convention May 13-14, 2022
    Republican Primary Aug. 9, 2022


State Sen. Paul Gazelka
Announcement
State Capitol
St. Paul, MN
 September 8, 2021
DEMOCRACY IN ACTION transcript [video
 
Fellow Minnesotans. I'm honored to be in this majestic building, the seat of our state government, to announce my candidacy for Governor of the state of Minnesota.

You know I've had the opportunity to travel around the state these last 45 days and then every virtually every day at the State Fair, and then seeing this group of people behind me, I know what makes Minnesota great—it's our people.

The people that are working for their families, their friends, their loved ones and themselves.

It's our National Guard, police and peace officers who risk their lives every day to protect our communities. Thank you.

It's our entrepreneurs, our business leaders, our risk takers who use their ingenuity and persistence to build companies creating innovative products, services, jobs and shared wealth for all of our communities.

It's our educators who dedicate themselves to our children so that they may in turn, contribute morally, productively and creatively in their communities.

I've got a number of these because it is the people of Minnesota.

It's our farm families who work hard. They have innovations, they care for the they care for the land that feed people throughout the whole world. Think about that. These are the ones that have calluses on their hands, that brings billions of dollars into the Minnesota economy.
 
And what about our medical professionals who have made Minnesota a worldwide leader in medical care and technology. They have been on the front line fighting the pandemic and we are grateful.

Our essential workers who have always been indispensable to our communities, and have kept us going when Tim Walz shut our state down.

Our immigrants who have made Minnesota's culture as rich and diverse as the land of which our state stands.

Our spiritual leaders who offer us guidance and hope, especially during these so very challenging times.

Our community leaders and especially our volunteers who selflessly give of themselves, to make life better for everyone.

Finally, our children, our most precious asset, who depend on us to create a powerful future that they deserve. They're counting on us.

For all these tremendous human potential that our state holds, we need to look seriously at the crossroads that we are at right now. This is a very important moment for Minnesota, and to start with where we want to go in the future, we have to look back at where we were the last year and a half. This is very, very important.

Tim Walz' irresponsible shutdown, based on his lack of understanding of the scientific data, closed hundreds of restaurants and small businesses across the state, bankrupting many of them.

His inexcusable absence of leadership during the riots, endangered countless families, businesses and communities and his careless statements of our National Guard, police and peace officers created unfair mistrust in them and put their lives at risk.

He failed an entire generation of children by closing schools, setting many of these children's, putting them so far behind that it will be difficult for them to catch up. But I'm saying we're going to help them catch up. And I will tell you that other states had their schools open, other countries had their schools open, parochial schools were open. The data showed that they were not at risk, and yet he closed the schools.  And now we have the data that clearly shows that they fell behind and that is laid at the feet of Tim Walz.

He mismanaged our nursing homes and long term care facilities, endangering the lives of the vulnerable and our senior citizens.

He unilaterally abused executive powers without input from the Minnesota Senate or frankly even his own party in the House.

Tim Walz says he wants One Minnesota, but I've never seen Minnesotans more divided, angry and afraid than they are today. Is it—it's his failed leadership of Tim Walz that so recklessly endangered our state. The question is, is that the road we want to go down?

Well, let me ask you it again. Is this the road you want to go down?

That's more like it. That's a resounding no.


I ask you today to look at the future I envision for a stronger Minnesota, a Minnesota that supports our families and future generations. A Minnesota where we returned budget surpluses to our taxpayers, instead of expanding the role of government, where our state then concentrates on developing reliable infrastructure and encourages the creation of jobs in the private sector.

A Minnesota where the National Guard, police and peace officers are respected and allowed to do their jobs, keeping our communities safe.

A Minnesota where everyone can prosper with a robust economy that offers jobs with dignity, personal fulfillment, and the opportunity for all peoples to support themselves and their families.

A Minnesota where entrepreneurs, business leaders and risk takers can thrive; where they're not overtaxed, over regulated, over overburdened and where they have access to abundant, well-educated workforce.

A Minnesota that uses our resources wisely and responsible responsibly, where we respect the resources of the Iron Range and the jobs those resources provide.

A Minnesota where we are free to worship where we choose, in the manner we choose, without interference from politicians like Tim Walz.

A Minnesota that gives all parents fair choices for their children's education, especially if the children are in failing schools.

A Minnesota where we teach our children to look honestly at our history, and in that honest evaluation of our triumphs and our flaws, we learn from our mistakes and take pride in the fact that we are citizens of the greatest country in the world.

And may God continue to guide us in this journey.

A Minnesota that protects all human life. A Minnesota where the protection doesn't end at birth, it continues with a reliable patient-centered health care, a strong education system, a vibrant economy, and the dignity we deserve at all stages. of our lives. That's being pro life.

A Minnesota that empowers all of our citizens to participate in the electoral process. We all want a fair vote.

A Minnesota where there's collaboration, balance and respect among our elected officials, where those officials are working for the good of all of us.

A Minnesota that encourages reliable, clean and affordable energy using science to determine sensible, fiscally responsible energy policies.

A Minnesota where the Second Amendment is respected and defended, where we know our fundamental right to protect ourselves is not in jeopardy.

And finally, a Minnesota where we care for our veterans, the women and men who have sacrificed so much to keep our state and our country free.

This is my vision for Minnesota. But the vision is just the beginning. It requires requires hard work and discerning leadership to make it a reality. Our elected officials, community members and citizens all need to work together to make it happen. I'm asking for the help of all of us to make this vision a reality because with without all of us, this will not happen. I ask you to support me and changing the direction we're heading and creating a stronger future for our children, our families, our businesses, our communities, our loved ones, and our state.

My name is Paul Gazelka. And I'm running for Governor of the great state of Minnesota.


So I'm gonna take a few questions but I want to greet I want to say hi to some of the people that came. I'll be back in just a few minutes. So I want to thank you guys thanks for coming.


All right questions.

QUESTION...

The question is how does a Republican win statewide. And it's by building a broader coalition. We have new groups that are coming our way. The people on the Iron Range support me. In fact, Democrat legislators on the Range have said if I run they'll support me on the Range. That's a whole new group of people.

Many of the blue collar union workers that have been frustrated that Tim Walz has tried to stop the pipeline for months and months and months, or copper nickel mining or some of the industries they care about, they are starting to come our way.

The police, as I mentioned with some of the careless words that the governor has said about the National Guard and police, they are very frustrated.

And I think the suburban folks are waiting for something different than what we've had. If you look frankly, at what President Biden has done as far as the border, or whether it's Afghanistan or some of the things he's done, and then combine that with Tim Walz, you see that there's a shift.

And finally in Minneapolis and St. Paul—I've traveled throughout the different communities within Minneapolis and St. Paul—and I would say that they want their streets safe. They don't want to defund the place. I think that's a misconception of too many of the leaders in Minneapolis and they want to make sure that their kids have a fighting chance in school. And that's why we're talking about if their schools fail they need more choices for our kids, particularly in Minneapolis and St Paul.

QUESTION...

So, deeply saddened by the death of Jerry Relph, personal friend. We followed all the guidelines that were required at that particular moment, and he contracted the virus. I've always frankly said that the virus is serious, particularly if you're over 70. I've gotten COVID. I also got vaccinated. I think people should get vaccinated. I just don't think that you should mandate the vaccination on anyone. And so, as we're moving forward, we all have to think about how we're living our lives and what we need to do to to be safe. But I don't actually think that that will be an issue. We followed all the guidelines that we were supposed to.

QUESTION...

Well to win as a Republican, you have to convince the delegates, or the passionate side of the Republican Party, that you are with them and steering the direction that they want to go, and you have to be able to reach to the middle. And that is what I've had to do with the House and Governor under Republican hands and frankly, for the last three two-year budget cycles I've had to govern in divided government, and yet through that process, we were able to have no tax increases. Three different budgets. Two different governors wanted big tax increases. We stopped every single one of them. The base cares that we defend the Second Amendment and protect the preciousness of life. So in the end, I do believe that people will see that I can govern and also that we can hold the line and the things that are important to Republicans.

QUESTION...

That is my responsibilities, to build those bridges. And people ask me— I supported President Trump. I have pictures of him in the car with him smiling and I tell people, yeah, and I also have pictures with Walz and Dayton smiling.

I'm a collaborator. I build bridges. I move the agenda. And if you look at my record the last five years about no tax increases, defending the Second Amendment, making sure that we had clean and reliable energy and not going too far on some of the mandates that would cripple businesses. Each of the decisions I made I think are where the people of Minnesota want us to go.

QUESTION...

No, I'll abide by the endorsement. The delegate process is important and you need to win over the people that I think are most passionate. That's the passion of a campaign and I expect to win them over, but in the end, I have to show them that to win, we have to be broader than what we've been.

QUESTION...

Well, I've always protected life. I think that's something I've said is precious all the way through. I would also want to make sure that we got the wording and everything correct about it. You want to make sure you're doing what you're doing right. The other thing I would say is I've tried to work with with different pro life groups about where they want to move the agenda. Some of those would say you got to be careful not to go too far too fast. I think the ultimate thing that we need to do is convince people in their hearts and minds that life is precious from conception all the way to natural death.

QUESTION...

I'm only focused on Minnesota and in Minnesota I would say that Joe Biden won Minnesota. I was very active going door to door canvassing and knowing where the votes were. We didn't think that everything about the election was fair. We felt like the big tech companies filtering out stories. We felt like the constant attacks against President Trump made it more difficult. Mail in ballots is something that we want to make sure are better in the future. We don't really want them being mailed out to everybody with with 45 five days to collect them. We'd like to reform provisional ballots, when you come to vote, that you have to prove who you say you are, rather than that vote counting. So those are a number of reforms that we'd like to do. We think we should have photo ID for voting. But I'm going to focus just on Minnesota and not what the people think nationwide.

QUESTION...

I'm focused on Minnesota. I really, where I put all of my effort and research and understanding was Minnesota. And that's you know, and I said in Minnesota, I saw that that Biden won. I've accepted that. I accept the electoral college doing their part. It's difficult. We're frustrated. We wanted the Republicans to win and President Trump to win. But the electoral college is the process when there's a heavily divided disagreement about what happened, and that process worked.

QUESTION...

Am I concerned about launching this campaign with the state of the Minnesota GOP? So I said that I was at the State Fair in the state GOP booth. I heard virtually no one talking about that, any more than people talk about Kim Martin, the DFL chair. Who they talk about is Governor Walz, and who's gonna beat him and I'm gonna be I'm gonna be that one.

QUESTION...

Can you start over...

So every bill I have to see, and so I don't make commitments that directly, other than to say I'm pro life. My whole record shows that that I'm pro life and so it would follow down that path is where I would be.

QUESTION...

If I said lawmakers, I meant delegates. Sorry.

I did. I'm sorry. I did. Yes. Yes. I'm sorry. That is correct. So on the Range of there are delegates or Democrat legislators that will support me on the Range and promote me on the Range. I'll let you know later. Well Senator Tom Bock, who may now run as a Republican, is one of them. I'm not going to repeat other ones at this time.

QUESTION...

My goal is for Minnesota to elect myself as the Republican governor and also win the House and win the Senate. Republicans in my lifetime have never had House, Senate, Governor at the same time, so most of what we've done is stalemate. It's we try to move the ball and the other side disagrees. Democrats have had a number of times where they've had all of it. And so that's my goal. My vision would be that, that I've talked about would mean that we win House Senate and Governor

QUESTION...

No, I am not. The process will work. I've helped to raise up and train a number of good qualified leaders. That decision will likely be made this week. And I'm going to support whoever's picked, but I've never publicly said that I'm going to support anyone.

QUESTION...

We've won the Republican majority in the Senate now three out of the last four times, twice back or back to back, which I don't think it's ever happened. And so we've, I've put the Senate in a good spot. We've raised a lot of resources that they're going to have available. And we have a lot of candidates coming forward. What we don't know is what the redistricting boundary lines are going to be. So there's a lot of people waiting to see what that looks like. And that's always an interesting time. We should have that by the end of February.

QUESTION...

So there's a number of other good candidates out there. I'm positioning myself as a conservative Republican with a track record that everybody can look at. On the vaccinations, I've always said that the virus is serious. I say that, that I had COVID myself, that I've been vaccinated, that I think adults should be vaccinated, but I don't think that anyone should be forced to be vaccinated. So that's where I'm at. Senator Jensen may take a different approach. But there's a lot of other issues besides this. And that's where, whether it's the Second Amendment or single payer health care or some of the other issues that we are a bit different. He's a little bit, he's more moderate than I am. But people will have to decide who is the best candidate. But like I said, there's a bunch of good candidates out there. And so it begins.

QUESTION...

Which one? Somebody has been there. Well, that's one of them. Make no little plans here is one of them.

All right. Thank you, Thanks for being here.
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