MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Republican challenger Scott Jensen, already jousting for months in Minnesota’s marquee race for governor, headed into Tuesday’s primary expecting easy victories to formalize their fall matchup.
Walz was seeking his second term under the same “One Minnesota” slogan he used four years ago, but in an ever more polarized environment where Jensen and the GOP sought to turn his management of the pandemic against him.
Both men faced little-known or perennial candidates. In another top race, voters were choosing between two Republicans vying to take on Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison in a fall race that may turn on views about public safety and abortion.
With crime rising in Minneapolis, as in other major cities across the U.S., Republicans have spent months attacking Walz and Ellison on public safety. They’ve blamed Walz for a sluggish National Guard mobilization they say enabled the sometimes violent protests that followed George Floyd’s killing in 2020, including arson that destroyed a police precinct.
Walz has dismissed “second-guessing” of his moves during the pandemic, which included closing schools, restaurants and businesses and restricting large gatherings during the worst periods, and hit back at Jensen, a physician and former state lawmaker who rose to prominence in part on his COVID-19 vaccine skepticism.
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