Bob Sullentrop has been a Minneapolis resident for many years.
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Four out of five voters surveyed in a June, Minnesota Poll expressed some level of
concern about fraud in the state’s social services programs. More respondents
said they trusted Republicans more than Democrats to address the problem.
Republicans have made fraud the centerpiece of their statewide campaigns for
governor, U.S. Senate, and attorney general. But the issue could hold the greatest
political weight in the battle for the Legislature, where control hinges on a handful
of competitive districts in the suburbs and greater Minnesota.
While statewide races typically follow broader partisan patterns, Even if
Democrats maintain their hold on the governorship, failing to win legislative
majorities could prevent a Klobuchar administration from getting a running start
on her agenda.
GOP Sen. Michael Kreun, of Blaine, said fraud has become the “number one
issue” he hears about on the campaign trail, with voters raising it more frequently
than in previous election cycles.
“My constituents, they’re working people,” Kreun said. “They get up and go to
work every day, and they feel like they’re getting ripped off by people who don’t
work.”
Fraud’s political toll
Fraud has been generating headlines in Minnesota for years, most notably with the
Feeding Our Future scheme, the swindling of $250 million in federal funds meant
to feed children during the pandemic.
But public scrutiny intensified as allegations of widespread fraud surfaced in other
state-funded programs, including housing and autism services. Once viewed as
isolated cases, the voters came to see the cascading fraud as evidence of a broader
oversight failure by DFL Gov. Tim Waltz’s administration.
Walz abandoned his re-election bid in January as he faced national scrutiny for
his response to the fraud, illustrating how politically potent the issue had become.
In the June Minnesota Poll, Waltz’s approval rating fell to its lowest point of his
eight year tenure. With Waltz out of the race, Republicans are now making the
case that Democrats broadly allowed fraud to go unchecked.
Kreun has told constituents that state Senate Democrats “abdicated (their)
responsibility to be a check on the Waltz administration” by not holding
confirmation hearings for many of the governor’s commissioners. Democrats hold
a one seat majority in the Senate.
There should have been a hearing for Waltz’s human services commissioner,
Kreun said, as fraud allegations were spreading in the agency’s autism and
housing stabilization programs.
“We should be using every tool at our disposal to bring accountability” he said.
Voters have been clear about who they blame for the problem, be said.
In Anoka, GOP state Sen Jim Abeler said fraud is a frequent topic of conversation
among independent and Republican voters. People are angry that taxpayer money
has been wasted while they’re feeling the pressure of the economy, he said.
“It’s pretty universal that they’re blaming the governor and the administration,”
he said. Nobody is saying the Republicans caused the fraud.”
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