Lisa Demuth targets fraud, immigration policy in final pitch for Minnesota governor

(FOX 9) - FOX 9 has extended an invitation to all the candidates polling above 5% in both the Minnesota Governor and Senate primary races to appear on our All Day program for an interview. On Monday, Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth joined us as she makes a bid for the Republican nomination for Minnesota governor.

Her primary opponents, Mike Lindell and Kendall Qualls, both appeared last week.

Speaker Demuth on why she is running for governor:

"Running for governor is something that – if you would have asked me 12 years ago, 10 years ago, even a year and a half ago – if I had ever thought of it, I would have said no. But I am born and raised here. Minnesota matters too much to me to let us continue down a path that I don't think is a good place for our state to be. Serving in the legislature has given me both the experience of trying to move things forward even in a tie this last year and realizing that what I'm hearing from Minnesotans across the state is they just want common sense back."

Speaker Demuth on trailing in the polls:

"I think when we look at the polls, you have to look at the specifics about them. So you can look at overall numbers, but where are either increases or decreases in the percentage that each candidate is having? What type of voter, who is turning out for those? And I don't know about you, but I don't ever respond if I'm asked in a poll, so it makes you wonder who's really responding also. I think we need to take them with a grain of salt, but if I would really look at what our campaign is and what makes sense. I've been across the state, both at county fairs, at different events, parades, and what I'm hearing from Minnesotans is what has resonated for the last couple of years in the legislature, but also what I'm looking to do for Minnesota in the November election, which again is bringing common sense, ending fraud, reducing our taxes."

Speaker Demuth on staying in the primary after the convention:

"Yes, and I fully expected that I would abide by the endorsement. At that particular convention, there was a lot of problems with the technology that was being used. There was a push for paper ballots. There were problems even on Friday; the gubernatorial piece was on Saturday. And then when the state party chair came out and said there were enough concerns that they weren't going to hold anyone, I felt that was our release as a team to go forward, enter that primary. I think the thing to look at is you had about 2,000 people at a convention making a decision and could it have been flawed or not, apparently, and even my own clicker was not working. And so you look at that and now given the opportunity, every Minnesotan can go ahead and weigh in on this primary by voting tomorrow or today, the two days left, so that they have a voice in who is going to be on that final ballot. As voters, that is our responsibility and our right, and this just opens that door for a broader part of participation."

Speaker Demuth on criticism of her decision to stay in the primary:

"Yeah, and I think both ways on that, you know, we had heard that the Democrat convention had some issues. They went from their clickers to paper ballots, Republicans are talking about election integrity all the time, and there were problems there. I think what we can do is look forward to November, and looking forward to the results that come in, a big swath of Minnesotans making that decision, and we'll know that tomorrow night, Tuesday night at 8:01 – we won't know then – but when our polls close at eight o'clock that is what is going to set us on that next trajectory."

Speaker Demuth on no House vote on assault weapons ban:

"Yeah, I definitely wasn't afraid [that the ban might pass], but what I will say, there's a lot of misinformation. So those bills in the House were heard five times in committee, fully vetted, and then voted on, and they failed on a tied vote. That means there wasn't enough votes to move them from the committee and out. Three times on the House floor, the bills were heard, fully vetted, and voted on without the number of passing votes that were needed. So the misinformation, misreporting on some of the information that was going out was that the vote wasn't being taken. Those votes were taken eight times this legislative session in 2026, and they didn't have the votes to pass. I'll also point back to when Democrats had full control of state government [in 2023 and 2024] those bills both were not even brought up, but the ability to have passed those if there had been the votes were there, Democrats at the time, even, full control, knew they didn't have the votes to pass gun ban."

Speaker Demuth on gun policy:

"I think the conversation needs to be there [on the weapon bans]. But what we're looking at is instead of penalizing law-abiding Minnesotans, I think what we have to do is increase our criminal penalties and mental health is a huge issue across all parts of Minnesota. I was just with some people in the agriculture industry. But specifically, we have to put in more supports for mental health to make sure that people are being served at the point that they need it early on in their lives."

Speaker Demuth on state prosecuting federal agents accused of crimes in Minnesota:

"That's an interesting question that comes forward. What I would definitely say is if the state is going to move forward and do criminal prosecutions, then it needs to be fully vetted. That is absolutely, people are probably looking back to earlier this year with some of the things that went on. What I do support is federal immigration laws. And our state should not be a magnet for illegal immigration, which we have seen that over the past number of years. We have to, and as your next governor, I will support federal immigration laws. What I will also do is I would expect that our federal delegation is going to be making moves forward to maybe modernize or improve our immigration laws. But there's nothing that a governor can do that would change any federal type of law for immigration."

Speaker Demuth on state-federal cooperation:

"Yep, well, I look at how the response of our state leaders, Governor Walz, even Mayor Frey in Minneapolis, how they were responding to what was going on within the city. And instead of trying to partner, as we saw in states such as Michigan or other states, trying to partner with the federal government to make sure work could be done in a safe manner. They were very much in opposition and made it more dangerous on our streets for individuals, for law enforcement, and for federal agents."

Speaker Demuth on combating fraud involving state and federal taxpayer funds:

"Yeah, $10 billion in fraud is our taxpayer dollars, whether they are federal or state. And that is much too much waste and incompetence at the top level of our state government that has allowed that culture of fraud to continue going forward. So as a governor, what I can do is choose commissioners in agencies that will be held accountable. What we've seen in the past is that there have been commissioners where fraud has taken place within their agencies and they've either stayed at their job or even been promoted in the case of DHS. So wanting accountability from the top and that starts with our top leader, with our governor, setting that tone of ending a culture of fraud. Some of the things we were able to do in the legislature during my time as Speaker of the House, I established the Fraud Prevention Agency Oversight Committee. So it could be fully looked at instead of hidden or not talked about. And then we put in whistleblower protections. We added full-time equivalent two new positions to the Office of Legislative Auditor, which is non-partisan, and we established the Office for Inspector General with law enforcement capabilities over state government to end the fraud here in the state of Minnesota."

Speaker Demuth on restructuring state agencies to prevent fraud:

"Absolutely, Minnesotans expect that when they send in their taxpayer dollars, they will be respected and then delivered to those that are needing it the most. The fraud and the waste and the theft of our dollars is shameful, especially when our state government budget has doubled or more than doubled in the last 14 years. It's time to turn that back around, make Minnesota a place that we can afford our lives and be successful and move forward."

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