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MN election: Why GOP fraud attacks failed
Despite a heavy Republican campaign focus on state fraud, the strategy failed to move enough voters in Minnesota's major Election Day races. FOX 9 political analyst David Schultz explains that voters were ultimately more concerned with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and the rising cost of living
(FOX 9) - Republicans made fraud a big part of their pitch, but results show that voters weighed a lot more than that.
Fraud stayed front and center throughout campaigns
Governor race hits kept coming:
In the governor’s race debates, fraud kept coming up.
"Tim Walz should’ve caught the fraud earlier," said now Gov.-elect Amy Klobuchar during a debate on Oct. 21.
She also talked about how she reached out to the Justice Department and secured more federal prosecutors to help combat the fraud.
"Even if she made a phone call on fraud, where was she?" asked her Republican opponent, Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth.
Senate race attacks similar:
Fraud showed up in the Senate race, too.
"I know that Minnesota taxpayers are angry, and I am angry, too," said now Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan during a debate on Oct. 16.
"You and I are on the ballot, and only one of us let $9 billion walk out the door to fraud," said her Republican opponent, Michele Tafoya.
Attack ads:
Attack ads persistently pushed the topic in front of voters, too. One ad said that Klobuchar had "no plans to stop the fraud in Minnesota."
Another said: "Peggy [Flanagan] got rich. Minnesotans got ripped off."
Other voter concerns ended up mattering more
Bigger issues stepped in:
"The fraud issue just didn’t resonate as strongly for enough voters," said FOX 9 political analyst David Schultz.
He said that while voters cared about fraud, the immigration crackdown and the rising cost of living carried more weight.
National anger may have changed the math
Local perspective:
There was clearly the fraud in Minnesota, but at the same time polls were indicating that people were increasingly concerned about fraud, graft and corruption at the national level, too," said Schultz. He also said anger about the Trump administration, including Operation Metro Surge and affordability problems, was overwhelming.
Schultz said it was challenging for Demuth to connect Klobuchar to state fraud. He also said President Trump’s endorsement of Tafoya probably did not help her in Minnesota.
The Source: This story uses information gathered by FOX 9 reporter Mike Manzoni and analysis from FOX 9 political analyst David Schultz