Kendall Qualls hopes anti-DEI message will push him over the top in governor’s race

Heading into precinct caucuses, Kendall Qualls was primed for a big win.

The Republican candidate for governor had racked up strong fundraising numbers and won several smaller preference polls leading up to the party’s straw poll of more than 17,000 Republican activists across the state. Instead, Qualls came in second to House Speaker Lisa Demuth.

Qualls was “obviously disappointed,” he told reporters on a call the day after caucuses, before quickly pivoting back to the message he’s been honing through dozens of podcast interviews, cable TV hits, op-eds, and a book since his last run for governor in 2022.

“We have a choice of candidates,” he said. “A legislator versus a leader. We’re looking for a political outsider.”

Qualls’ central message highlights his own background as a Black conservative who escaped childhood poverty and achieved a successful career in the military and corporate America. He now runs a nonprofit he founded that’s critical of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and the idea that racism is systemic in favor of traditional self-starting conservative ideals.

That rags-to-riches story and anti-DEI message will win over party activists in the end, he predicted.

Four years ago, he narrowly lost the Republican nomination in a race that was ultimately won by DFL Gov. Tim Walz. But much has changed since then, including the return of President Donald Trump, who has targeted the DEI programs championed by Democrats after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Conservative outlets have also kept up a drumbeat of stories that portray DEI policies in an unflattering light, including in the Walz administration.

His success should be shared by more people, he said. But welfare programs that date to the 1960s have “ruined the American Black,” he said, and are responsible for the high rate of fatherless Black homes — a claim disputed by some researchers but popular with conservatives.

“American Black culture we have today is not [the] American Black culture of my parents’ era,” he said. “They’re rolling in their graves at how we are living our lives today.”

Qualls slammed the progressive racial justice groups like Black Lives Matter, who he says “purposefully tried to divide us by race, by gender, by economic status. We’re Americans,” he said.

Qualls’ comments had some potential voters nodding along in agreement. Several voters at the bar told the Minnesota Star Tribune that Qualls’ anti-DEI stance is a big reason they hope to vote for him later this year.

“If it came from a white man, we’d all be accused of being racist,” said Terry Stanek, a white woman from Big Lake. “If it comes from a Black man, then they don’t pull that card.”

“So many politicians want to divide,” said Becky Kirch. ”And I’m sick and tired of hearing about white supremacy and [white] privilege. … We’ve all had to work to get to where we are.”

But Qualls’ background and views on race won’t be the deciding issue for delegates, former Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka predicted. Gazelka also ran for governor in 2022 and threw his support to Qualls during the convention, but it wasn’t quite enough to get him the nomination.

“I don’t think it’s going to be his story that causes him to rise up to the top,” said Gazelka, who has not yet endorsed any of the GOP hopefuls this year. “It’ll be his vision for how we can get Minnesota back on track — the one that inspires people the most.”

Qualls was quick to say that his campaign is far more than his views on race, pointing to a plan to “Save Minnesota” that has some overlap with those from other Republicans running for governor. He, like many of his Republican competitors, has also come out in support of President Trump’s ongoing immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

In addition to his strong straw poll showings in recent months, Qualls has also proven adept at raising money. He pulled in more than $550,000 in 2025, campaign finance reports show.

“We are big supporters,” she told the Star Tribune in a phone interview, saying she’s impressed with his nonprofit’s work and his business acumen.

The Star Tribune was able to identify a handful of other Twin Cities-area donors who’ve made large donations to Qualls’ nonprofit and political enterprises, but they did not return requests for comment. His nonprofit’s largest donors are white Christian conservatives from the suburbs and rural areas, Qualls said.

“These people from a Christian perspective, regardless of their race and where they live, they said, ‘You know what, this is a noble organization,’” Qualls said.

DFL Chair Richard Carlbom said in a statement that Qualls “has built his political career tearing down” Minnesotans’ values of hard work, fairness and basic dignity.

“He pits neighbors against each other and tells entire communities they don’t belong unless they erase their personal and family history,” Carlbom said. “He’ll say anything to get the attention of Donald Trump and validate himself with the right-wing hate machine.”