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Friday's gubernatorial debate gave us a clear look at what distinguishes these two candidates ("For Walz, Jensen final faceoff," Oct. 29). We heard Scott Jensen repeat partisan talking points that are flippant, cynical, simplistic, disrespectful and often untrue. We heard Jensen (a one-term state senator) say that the governor's responses had "a lot of words" and were too complicated to understand. We heard Jensen, who never served a day in the military, complain that the governor "quit" the National Guard — after 24 years of service. We heard irrelevant smears (the governor once got a speeding ticket). We heard Jensen admit that he has been investigated five times by the state Board of Medical Practice (which exists to assure Minnesotans that physicians are "competent, ethical practitioners") and is currently under investigation for his behavior during the pandemic.

On the other hand, we saw our governor, an experienced, hardworking and competent public servant who has led the state through some of the most difficult years in our history. Gov. Tim Walz will not provide simplistic answers to Republican challenges because the problems that Minnesota and all other states face are not simple and have no easy solutions. He understands government, governing, the art of politics and the need for compromise to solve our problems. He is clearly proud of our state, and he respects the intelligence of Minnesota citizens.

I urge moderate, rational Republicans and independents to reject the shallow, partisan cynicism of Scott Jensen. We have hard work to do — let's elect leaders who have the character, honesty and experience we need to get it done.

Dan Gjelten, St. Paul

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Eric Steinmetz, Mankato, Minn.

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Did any of you get a chance to see the debate at Farmfest between Walz and Jensen? At this event, Walz got smoked by Jensen. That is why Walz was so afraid to have a minimal amount of face-to-face debates. Next question, were you able to see the debate between Walz and Jensen on Oct. 19? Most likely not because Walz wanted to have it broadcast away from the metro, no audience present. Once again Jensen smoked Walz by bringing up all the failing when Minneapolis burned in the summer of 2020, the $250 million food fraud, the way Walz locked down the state during COVID and his flip-flopping on support for the ethanol industry and his plan to have the state flooded with electric vehicles. On Oct. 23 a debate between the candidates for attorney general, secretary of state and governor was planned. Guess who did not attend: our "leader" Gov. Walz. It was his loss, because Jensen smoked him again.

Walz cannot seem to rid himself of the "California model" to have us fall in line with the Green Movement drivel. In the MPR debate on Friday Walz said he sold the COVID morgue for a profit. Fuzzy math: He needs to check the $6 million purchase price and the loss we the taxpayers suffered. Therefore, on Election Day and before for those who plan to use early voting, cast your ballot for the Scott Jensen-Matt Birk ticket. While you are at it, cast your ballots for Jim Schultz and Ryan Wilson.

Dan Markell, Marshall, Minn.

Minnesota has a long history of governors who promoted the welfare of all Minnesotans: Republicans such as Arne Carlson and Tim Pawlenty, Democrats such as Rudy Perpich and Mark Dayton, and even independents such as Jesse Ventura.

Jensen and I both stood up at our graduations from the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and took oaths to place our patients' welfare above all other agendas, with the implication to never harm those we serve.

Jensen has criticized Walz for putting the lives of Minnesotans above all other agendas during the worst of the COVID pandemic. During that same time, Jensen promoted practices and treatments that have been shown to harm Americans. He continues to do so.

Every major medical professional organization — led by the American Medical Association and the Federation of State Medical Boards — has taken the position that those handful of physicians who promote unproven remedies such as ivermectin for COVID and demur on the need for vaccinations to protect communities are guilty of betraying our sacred professional oaths. At least 12 medical boards have disciplined physicians who, like Jensen, have recommended against COVID vaccinations and have prescribed useless and even dangerous drugs such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.

As Minnesotans head to the polls in the coming days, we must reflect on the character and ethics of those we are calling to serve. Can we trust a physician who has betrayed his professional oath to protect all Minnesotans?

Joanne Roberts, St. Paul

I'm a City Council member in Falcon Heights, so you wouldn't be surprised to hear that I spend a lot of time at the Minnesota State Fair. Over the past few years, one of my favorite sites to visit has been the crop art in the Ag Hort Building, where artists use a variety of seed combinations to ultimately make their artwork.

While the art and artists change year to year, one common thing I continually see is Office of the State Auditor-themed crop art by our State Auditor Julie Blaha.

Blaha has been on a mission, and she's been using every medium imaginable, including crop art at the State Fair, to spread awareness about the OSA. Her dedication is clear and evident.

Like Blaha, I believe that those who are closest to an issue should lead on the solution. To help more local leaders and neighbors have the information they need to make decisions based on facts, she's rebuilt relationships with Minnesotans across the state, turned the OSA's complex financial documents into plain language and made all of the information more accessible by revamping the office's communications.

Yakasah Wehyee, Falcon Heights

I was with my family at Twin Cities Maze on Oct. 22, when a man accidentally shot himself in the leg ("Man accidentally shoots self in leg while visiting Brooklyn Park corn pit," Oct. 25). Two of the grandkids witnessed it. I guess I'd like to "thank" him for 1) shooting himself and not us, 2) feeling the need to have a gun at a family event, 3) reigniting PTSD in one of my grandkids, 4) necessitating a discussion with another grandkid of what the loud bang was and then answering her questions that followed, 5) necessitating a larger discussion as people tried to remain calm and "normal" about what we would all do if we heard another loud bang. We made a split-second plan, which is what we have to do these days in this country.

We can't all stay home and hide, but I sure wish the guns would.