Olson: Republicans can reset the governor’s race without waiting for Walz

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As Minnesota Democrats wait out Gov. Tim Walz’s internal debate about whether to seek a third term, Republicans should fill the campaign void with their ideas for 2026 and beyond.

It’s time for new candidates and big ideas from the party that hasn’t won statewide since Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s re-election in 2006.

The GOP should seize the moment with a candidate who may be untested, but is willing to lead a debate about the future of the state and bold enough to drag the party out from under President Donald Trump’s hulking shadow.

There’s little to lose. If Walz announces he’s running, he’ll be seeking a tough and unprecedented third term. If he’s not running, the DFLers who seek to succeed him will be familiar veterans of successful statewide campaigns.

A new Republican face would create a contrast who could reshape the party and create a winning coalition beyond the two-party orthodoxy.

As uncomfortable as it may be, the party should remember Gov. Arne Carlson, who was a watchdog state auditor and social moderate when he ran for governor in 1990.

Carlson lost the GOP endorsement and the primary to Jon Grunseth. An extraordinary series of events in late October of that year landed Carlson on the statewide general election ballot and he became a popular two-term governor. (He didn’t seek a third.)

The Republican Party and Carlson parted ways long ago. Approaching his 91st birthday next month, Carlson’s enjoying retirement, but his former party shouldn’t wait for another historic scandal to shake up the 2026 contest.

The GOP desperately needs a bolder plan beyond unspecified tax cuts, deriding the DFL over “waste, fraud and abuse” and mocking the two new male Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders. It’s past time for the GOP to show us their governance road map.

Some starting points: What is the GOP‘s vision for vitality on the Iron Range beyond environmentally dubious and shortsighted mining operations? How would Republicans maintain access to quality health care outside the metro areas? Would a new GOP leader seek more restrictions on abortion or LGBTQ+ rights?

With that in mind, I offer two names: House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, and lawyer Chris Madel.

Demuth is intriguing. In her fourth term in the House, she’s a former Rocori school board member, longtime resident of Cold Spring and an experienced small business owner.

She just completed her first session as speaker, the first Republican woman and first person of color to hold the position.

Demuth’s collegial and nimble at remaining focused while navigating conflict. In a statewide run, she would be unburdened by the wide-ranging factions of the House GOP caucus, free to show her personal vision.

She knows the terrain of the state. As the GOP House minority leader, she helped her party win enough seats to pull even with the DFL in the House.

Then there’s Chris Madel, an extraordinarily effective communicator and aggressive lawyer, who has privately flirted with the race for months because he sees weaknesses.

“If I thought that there was a Republican announced candidate, or someone ... in the wings that could actually win the election, I’d be sitting on my hands,” he said last week with characteristic bravado and bluntness.

He insists he hasn’t made up his mind and wouldn’t speak at length or talk positions on issues but noted his experience fighting fraud. “It annoys me beyond belief that we’re not doing more to combat it,” he said.

(He also referenced an effusive headline on a 2011 Minnesota Star Tribune profile of him that said Madel “pursues fraud with tenacity of linebacker.”)

Madel’s a brilliant brawler who is comfortable making others uncomfortable. Most recently, he represented the State Trooper Ryan Londregan, who faced criminal charges and a civil lawsuit in the death of Ricky Cobb II in a traffic stop. The charges were dropped and the lawsuit dismissed.

In Minnesota, the voters are close to evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans with a sliver of swing voters in the middle who can determine the outcome of statewide elections. An unconventional candidate who speaks to those fence-sitting independents could be the ticket to GOP victory.

Regardless of what the DFL does, the GOP has the moment of opportunity to shake up this race and set the tone of Minnesota governance for the next generation. Why not give it a try?