Minnesota Candidate: Cheers for Walz Exit Would Rival a Dictator's Fall

A candidate for Minnesota governor has made a sharp comparison between local politics and a global regime change. Kendall Qualls, a Republican and U.S. Army veteran, stated that Minnesotans would celebrate Governor Tim Walz not seeking re-election as enthusiastically as Venezuelans would cheer the fall of their leader, Nicolás Maduro. Maduro leads Venezuela's authoritarian government. Qualls criticized the Democratic governor's two terms in office. He specifically cited the 2020 Minneapolis riots following George Floyd's killing and a recent public assistance fraud scandal as major failures. Governor Walz has not announced if he will run for a third term in 2026.