Kendall Qualls for Governor
Sean: We'd like to welcome Kendall Qualls, who's the GOP-endorsed candidate for governor. Today is primary day, and we're excited to talk to every candidate we can leading up to the election in November. Kendall Qualls, thank you so much for joining us on City Cast Twin Cities today.
Kendall: I'm glad to be here. Thanks for having me, Sean.
Sean: Now, Kendall Qualls, I wanted to ask you about how your work as an elected official would most tangibly impact the community you live in.
Kendall: Yeah, I think – not just for the community I live in, but for all communities – there are three basic things that transcend political parties. Number one, economic conditions. Everyone wants to thrive economically, not just survive, and there are things we can do in government to help with that.
Number two – look, Minneapolis has seen better days when it comes to crime. Forbes magazine rated it the number one safest city with the best quality of life back in October 2009, and we're going to get that back. That's truly the character of Minneapolis – it was never a Detroit or a Chicago. Crime is rampant in the metro as well as the surrounding suburbs, and we want to get that back.
And number three is our public school education. We used to have a marquee public education program that benefited everyone – for people like me, coming out of poverty, education could be a gateway to a very different life. Now we've seen real decline – we're near the bottom-middle of the nation, our test scores are out of whack, and there's all this other foolishness going on in our public schools. We want to get that back too. So: improving economic conditions, safer communities, and quality education for everyone.
Sean: You mentioned in your biography a really unique history and path – you spent time as a child in Harlem and then in Oklahoma, two vastly different places. You've also talked about the importance of education, and really helping people at every stage of life, particularly if they're born into poverty. Beyond the first three things you mentioned – sure, economic opportunity, safe streets, access to education, these are all big – what else can you do in office to build strong communities where people really thrive?
Kendall: Well, I think the biggest thing right now is that people sense there's no accountability in elected officials – that we've lost our sense of community, our sense of belonging to each other. Is there a common denominator that brings us all together? Right now, unfortunately, we work and walk and think in tribes of left versus right, and that's wrong in a lot of ways. We didn't used to live like that. I want to bring that sense of commonality back, and we can do that.
But the accountability part is very important. The fraud issue in our state is way beyond out of control – it's a national embarrassment. We don't need special offices to fix this. This is called leadership. This happens in the private sector all the time – it's called embezzlement, and we handle these issues within a single calendar year. Someone's fired, someone's held accountable, someone goes to jail. For embezzlement, it doesn't take eight to ten years and an Office of Inspector General and all these other layers of government – it's called leadership. That's how we bring accountability back, integrity back, and a sense of pride to be able to call ourselves Minnesotans again, because that's been lost for a lot of the population in this state.
Sean: Do you think the Office of Inspector General is unproductive in rooting out fraud, or do you think it just requires leadership above that station to make sure things actually happen? I'd assume even at a business level you need boots on the ground to root out embezzlement. So I'm asking: do you see usefulness in inspectors general, or do you see it as unnecessary red tape?
Kendall: It's unnecessary red tape. Listen, this could have been handled day one – Tim Walz could have fired someone. No one – I think one person resigned in the last few months, but he's fired no one. We have $9 billion that's been accounted for by Joe Thompson, the Biden-appointed U.S. attorney, and I believe there's a lot more. No one's been held accountable. It starts with the leader of the executive branch, which is the governor.
And like I said, even in the private sector, this is handled quickly within your finance department – not a special department, a finance, accounting, and audit department. These guys are full-time, they do their jobs. We don't hire outside help unless it's really serious. This isn't that – we've had whistleblowers telling us about this stuff for years.
Sean: I want to switch gears a bit and ask about the struggles state government is having with the federal government right now, and how negative that impact can be for Minnesotans – specifically, $199 million in Medicaid payments that were recently held back. I want to ask what you'd do to improve that relationship, because – Kendall Qualls, I think you and I land on pretty different parts of the political spectrum, but on the other hand, I really don't want to see people not getting Medicaid payments they're counting on. So how can you bring that relationship back so these payments get fulfilled and people get what they need to live?
Kendall: Sean, you're assuming we're on different parts of the political spectrum – I'd bet we agree on probably 80% of the issues. Let's reverse that question: do you favor Medicaid-ineligible people getting payments of millions of dollars? No, of course not. Those payments were intended for the most vulnerable of our citizens. And right now we have people getting those payments who aren't even citizens of our state – they're in different states, all these different things. So, yes–
Sean: –but we have people who are citizens of our state not getting the payments.
Kendall: I thought you asked me the question.
Sean: Oh – go ahead.
Kendall: Okay, all right. So look – I'm all in favor of making sure our vulnerable citizens get the funds they need for care. All in favor of that, because I used to be one of those kids growing up. So the compassion is there, but I disdain people who take money intended for the weak, vulnerable, and sick, and use it to live a lifestyle better than the average American Minnesotan. That's wrong in a big way.
All we have to do is tighten up the ship. We need strong leadership, and then we won't have to worry about the federal government stepping in, because we're doing the right thing locally. We fix our own ship. We're a sovereign state – we take charge of our own things. The reason we have this intervention in the first place is that we've had lousy management for the last eight years.
Sean: Thank you for that. I want to ask a bit about your path to electability – specifically, on Almanac recently, you referred to the metro as an Achilles heel for Republicans, but said you believe you can unify the state. What would you say to somebody who thinks the metro area is going to stay an Achilles heel for Republicans if they put up candidates who won't strongly and clearly speak out against ICE and its actions during Operation Metro Surge?
Kendall: Well, again, Sean, I'm going to push back on that, because people in the metro aren't saying, "Oh, ICE is too–" They're dealing with the highest level of carjacking we've had in years. We've had the highest property taxes, even as the value of commercial buildings has decreased – one building was sold for $6 million when it was originally purchased for over $90 million less than 10 years ago. Guess who's making up the difference in property taxes? The people you're referring to in the metro. That's why their property taxes are going up, their car insurance is going up because of the increase in car theft and carjackings. Everything is going up.
Our household income – this is according to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce – the growth of household income in this state over the last 10 years ranks 46th out of 50 states. The biggest issue Minnesotans across the board, including in the metro, are facing is tough economic times, on top of the headache of crime. Why isn't someone doing something about it? Nothing's changed in Minneapolis except the leadership, and they're paying dearly for it. They want their kids to have a decent education – they're not fixated on ICE, or these "No Kings" rallies.
When I look at the population of people protesting ICE and protesting "No Kings," I call them "no Black folks" rallies, because there's hardly any. You guys are narrowing in on very specific leftist programs and forgetting the people in the middle. You're forgetting the Bill Clinton Democrats, and only focusing on the Hillary Clinton Democrats.
Sean: Do you think there's some percentage of the population that's both frustrated with ICE and also unhappy about carjackings and where public education is at – some Venn diagram that includes people with both of those complaints?
Kendall: Oh, I'm sure there are, but I think that Venn diagram is very narrow. You know why? Statistics and facts bear that out – the carjackings, the crime, the schools, those have been chronic problems for years, but the ICE surge only happened in the last 12 months.
And by the way, Sean, here's the one thing I want to bring up about that surge you keep bringing up. Where were those protesters when Joe Biden let 10 to 15 million people into this country through a southern border mass run – unvetted, from a hundred different countries? Where were the protesters then? There's no precedent in American history where we've let people come in unvetted and unchecked like that. And right now in this country, the Democratic Party didn't bring a budget with them for the health care, the education, and all the other services that population needs – and that's a population the same size as the states of Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin combined. There's no protest for that.
Sean: I hear your question, and I'm letting it hang there, because I don't have an answer for you today. But I do want to switch gears again and ask something a little more human to human, because I understand there probably are a ton of things we're on the same page about. If you find yourself with a day off in your district – you realize, "Oh, I've got some time, I can hang out with my family, or do whatever I want" – what might be on your itinerary?
Kendall: I'll tell you what – I really enjoy spending time with my family outdoors. I think we have the best outdoors of any state in the country, and that's what I want to make Minnesota – the family destination vacation spot across the country, I really do. I love Gull Lake, Lake City, some of these others.
But here's the thing for me, Sean. You're looking at a guy who grew up, as you mentioned, in a broken family in Harlem, and then later with my father in a trailer park in Oklahoma. I was able to break that cycle of poverty, thank God, and for this country and the blessings I have now. I have grandchildren, and to see all of my children come back here as adults – four out of five of them are now married, and now we're having grandchildren – that generational blessing just warms my heart. I enjoy spending time with them. We don't have to do much, but I can tell you it's always loud.
Sean: Yeah, sometimes when you're with family, the lighter the agenda, the better – you can actually just find out what everybody's been up to and touch base. And to some extent, Kendall Qualls, I feel like that's what we've been doing today, trying to get an understanding of your campaign on this primary day, which I know is very important for you. I appreciate your time, I appreciate your patience, and thank you for joining us on City Cast Twin Cities.
Kendall: Thank you so much. Great, thank you. Appreciate it.
