Kendall Qualls officially launches 2026 bid for governor

Kendall Qualls made it official on Tuesday.

The former healthcare exec and Army veteran launched his 2026 gubernatorial campaign in front of a crowd of supporters at a restaurant in the West End of St. Louis Park, not far from the office of TakeCharge Minnesota, the advocacy organization he founded in 2020.

Last week Alpha News reported that Qualls had filed his campaign fundraising paperwork to begin his bid for governor in 2026.

And in his first campaign speech of the election cycle on Tuesday, the 61-year-old Republican wasted little time criticizing Gov. Tim Walz for what he called a record of failures in Minnesota and on the national stage as the vice-presidential running mate of Kamala Harris.

“I don’t have to tell you we are at a crossroads,” Qualls said. A third term of “Tim Walz is going to take us further down the road of losing jobs, a declining economy, rising crime and declining schools — or are we going take a different path?”

Qualls, who sought the Republican nomination for Minnesota governor in 2022, narrowly lost to Scott Jensen at the state Republican Party’s endorsement convention. But after nearly four years of continuing his grassroots advocacy, Qualls said he’s met too many Minnesotans who have either left the state for greener pastures or who are ready to do so after Walz and the DFL-controlled legislature passed a budget in 2023 that increased state spending by 38 percent.

“Yet, even after the entire country rejected his failures, Tim Walz still doesn’t get it,” Qualls continued, alluding to Walz’s 12-week campaign blitz with Harris before Donald Trump won the Nov. 6 election.

“We all see it. We all want a fight; but it’s going to take more than fire in the belly to win a statewide election,” Qualls said. “We have a responsibility to unite the party, and attract the sensible center to join our movement to restore Minnesota even beyond its former glory … We have the opportunity of a lifetime to turn Minnesota around, but only if we stand together.”

Earlier in the day, the DFL Party of Minnesota put out a statement on social media calling Qualls the “MN GOP’s kooky new gubernatorial candidate” and alleging that he is “obsessed with defunding public schools” and is a “100% pro-life, anti-abortion activist.”

Qualls downplayed those criticisms and joked with his supporters.

“As we start this campaign, we are gonna have Democrats shaking in their boots,” Qualls said.

He also criticized the governor for “spending more time outside the state on a vanity tour than he is trying to move Minnesota forward.”

“If we are going to fix the budget Tim Walz broke, we need a proven leader with real world business experience,” Qualls added, referencing Minnesota’s looming $6 billion budget deficit.

Although Gov. Tim Walz hasn’t announced if he will run for a rare third term, the Democrat and former vice-presidential candidate has continued to raise money for a potential reelection campaign. He’s also continued to flirt with the possibility of running another national campaign in 2028.

On Monday, the South Carolina Democratic Party announced Walz would appear as a “special guest speaker” at its annual state convention later this month. South Carolina is typically one of the first states to hold presidential primaries.

Hank Long

Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.