ROCHESTER — Three GOP gubernatorial candidates — businessman Kendall Qualls, House Speaker Lisa Demuth and businessman Patrick Knight — participated in a debate Thursday, May 21, 2026, at Century High School in Rochester, weighing in on issues ranging from taxes and regulation, to guns and mental health to reducing welfare dependency and education policy.

MyPillow founder Mike Lindell was not invited to the forum, because he has not promised to abide by the party’s endorsing process and support the endorsed candidate. Hosted by the Republican Party of Olmsted County, the debate was hosted by KTTC-TV and moderated by Brock Bergey.

Here were three questions that the candidates were asked (their answers are edited and paraphrased for space):

1. How would you change the Minnesota tax code to make it more appealing for businesses to put down roots in the state?

Patrick Knight: When a business is determining whether to move into the state, the biggest factor typically is the tax rate. The state’s corporate tax rate and our highest individual tax rate is 9.8%. If we want more business, we need to lower our marginal tax rates. Iowa sets a good example. Eight years ago, when Iowa GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds took office, the state had as progressive a tax rate as Minnesota. Over those eight years, Iowa slowly compressed it down to a flat tax. Ultimately, if we want businesses to come, we’ve got to lower taxes.

Kendall Qualls: The Republican Party has a historic opportunity. Right now, the Democrats lead the Senate by one seat; the House is evenly split. I’m going to campaign not only for governor but for GOP candidates who will help the party win the House and Senate and secure the party’s first trifecta since 1969. That’s how you make it possible to lower taxes. “We can actually do things to bring the needle back from where it is today, from crazy to normal.” Minnesota is close to being uninvestable. The state is in a danger zone right now of falling off a cliff of “irreversible decline.”

Lisa Demuth: Changing the tax code is critical for the state’s business climate. When businesses are looking at either choosing to come to Minnesota or choosing to expand, they look at the state’s tax rate. And it is important to make the necessary changes that encourages business growth. Businesses also look at the type of mandates that will be imposed on them. Recent mandates put on businesses, including paid family medical leave, earned sick and safe time and unemployment for hourly workers, have “driven businesses out of the state.” Paid family medical leave “sounds good on the surface,” but it allows an employee up to 20 weeks off per year. That is not sustainable or affordable for businesses.

2. What would you do to combat fraud in the state, which has reached such high levels?

Kendall Qualls: Fraud in the private sector is embezzlement. But it doesn’t linger for 10 years in the private sector like it does in the state of Minnesota. The private sector keeps track of what’s happening through quarterly reports. And when there are discrepancies, there are investigations. People are held accountable. They are fired and criminal charges are filed. All of this happens within a year or less. But only in government does fraud go for 10 years. There’s not been a single person fired that reports to Gov. Tim Walz for all the fraud that has taken place in the state. It’s called Leadership 101. I know they just passed an inspector general’s office to combat fraud. Only in government do you add more government to something that someone should have been doing in the first place. It’s called leadership.

Lisa Demuth: The first thing to combat fraud is choosing agency commissioners who are going to be held accountable. That has not happened under the Walz administration. The acting commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services has been there since 2017, during which time much of the fraud occurred. It is on record that employees within the agency have falsified documents, yet promotions keep going forward. Fraud is embarrassing to the state. It is theft and it means “your tax dollars are not staying with you.” When I became speaker, we passed a fraud prevention committee. As governor, the focus will be on choosing commissioners that will be held accountable.

Patrick Knight: I will bring in the best and the brightest. A hundred years ago, when Henry Ford was testifying before Congress, he was accused of acting like the smartest guy in the room. Ford said he wasn’t the smartest guy, but the five people who work for the Ford Motor Company are. “The point is, you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with. The fraud should have stopped a long time ago. It was known about through whistleblowers, Department of Justice indictments under Biden and the videos of Nick Shirley. “If they wanted to, they could have stopped it. It’s a leadership issue.”

3. How would you change school policy to foster academic excellence?

Kendall Qualls: This is a heartfelt issue to me. I grew up in poverty with my divorced mother near the end of the Vietnam War. And my journey from poverty to prosperity is the classic American dream. And the public education I received was the foundation of that transformation. Kids today are not receiving the education I received in the 1970s. “We are robbing our children of their future.” I support school choice, but the majority of students go to public schools. No 1, the professional trades need to be brought back. No. 2, there needs to be an emphasis on the basics. “It’s amazing what we can accomplish as a nation, when all we have is a piece of chalk and a blackboard. A back-to-the-basics approach needs to be emphasized: phonics, reading, math and science.

Lisa Demuth: I served on the school board in my local community for three terms. The first race I won was as a write-in candidate. The experience gave me an inside look at what was important for the success of students. You’ve heard people say how proud they are that Minnesota has a higher graduation rate than in other states. But the problem is that “we have lower scores in reading, math and science. Teacher education programs are key. We need to ensure that future teachers are taught in a way that will help future students. We need to focus on those core elements of reading, writing, science and math to prepare them. In 2023, there were 64 mandates put on schools. They came with a cost. The best way for schools, especially public schools, to do their best work for the community and their students is local control, to reduce mandates and raise standards.

Patrick Knight: I’m a product of Minnesota schools. My wife and I have four kids, two are in college and graduated from Minnesota public schools and two are at home. Education is important to our family. And I do feel that the quality of education is “plateauing.” And the statistics bear me out. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, “hardly a right-wing organization,” Minnesota fell from No. 8 in 2018 to as low as 19 in 2024. That’s a drastic fall. Before COVID, more than 60% of Minnesota students could perform math and reading at grade level. Now that’s less than 50%. We need to put mastery over participation. “If we want an excellent society with excellent leaders, excellent workers, we need excellent schools.” How does that happen? It means stopping social promotion. Higher graduation rates aren’t great if students can’t do the basics. Focus on core curricula. Allow reasonable discipline in school. Get rid of mandates. And allow vocational training.