WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:02.900 Well, good evening, everyone. It's good to be with you. 00:03.560 --> 00:06.380 Great to be with you this evening. My name is Lisa Daymouth. 00:06.540 --> 00:07.840 I am a candidate for governor. 00:08.320 --> 00:12.160 And I have to tell you with hosting this at your church, 00:12.220 --> 00:13.500 how many of you attend this church? 00:14.380 --> 00:19.020 All right. Hosting this at a church makes me feel very much at home. 00:19.360 --> 00:21.340 So I'm going to let you know a little bit about me. 00:21.700 --> 00:24.180 I'll let you know a little bit about my background 00:24.180 --> 00:25.320 and the work that I'm doing. 00:25.580 --> 00:27.960 And then I want to tell you just more 00:28.740 --> 00:30.200 why I'm running for governor 00:30.200 --> 00:33.060 and why Minnesota matters so very much to me. 00:33.520 --> 00:36.200 I was born and raised Minnesota in Painesville. 00:36.860 --> 00:37.860 So thanks, Central Minnesota. 00:38.540 --> 00:42.900 I know I talked to someone that grew up near... 00:42.900 --> 00:45.220 Yes, there you are, grew up in the Cold Spring area. 00:45.340 --> 00:48.600 My husband's family lived in the Cold Spring area 00:48.600 --> 00:52.280 and they had many foster kids that they welcomed into their home. 00:52.600 --> 00:56.020 And so I got to meet someone that actually remembered that time 00:56.020 --> 00:57.980 and the horses and the farm. 00:58.120 --> 00:59.260 And I appreciate that. 01:00.100 --> 01:01.640 But Minnesota matters. 01:01.960 --> 01:05.320 And I think where we look at where we are right now, 01:05.920 --> 01:07.460 it's not what we remember. 01:07.640 --> 01:11.440 And I'm not talking about as we look forward to what could be. 01:11.580 --> 01:14.020 I'm not talking about taking us back in time, 01:14.240 --> 01:16.860 but some of those core things that mattered very much. 01:17.240 --> 01:19.780 So when you think about Minnesota being a place 01:19.780 --> 01:21.740 that families could just afford their lives, 01:22.300 --> 01:23.960 they knew that their kids, 01:23.960 --> 01:26.560 if they chose public, private, whatever school, 01:26.680 --> 01:28.280 they were going to get an excellent education. 01:29.100 --> 01:30.560 You know, basic things. 01:30.740 --> 01:32.680 And also that our tax dollars, 01:33.120 --> 01:36.800 when we chose to send them in to the state, 01:37.000 --> 01:38.540 that they were used wisely. 01:39.340 --> 01:43.440 Remember when it used to be invested into things that mattered, 01:43.620 --> 01:45.820 our infrastructure, our law enforcement, 01:46.180 --> 01:47.580 our cities and our schools. 01:48.360 --> 01:50.280 We've come so far from that. 01:50.280 --> 01:54.700 And yet to me, Minnesota is too good to give up on. 01:55.100 --> 01:58.540 And that is why I've chosen both to serve in the legislature, 01:59.100 --> 02:02.140 but now making the decision to run for governor, 02:02.340 --> 02:04.500 because I don't want to give up on this state. 02:04.840 --> 02:06.780 And I hear when people talk about, 02:07.140 --> 02:09.820 well, I have to leave the state for six months in a day 02:09.820 --> 02:11.260 because of the taxes. 02:12.120 --> 02:15.140 I have four adult kids and seven grandkids, 02:15.400 --> 02:17.140 and I don't want to have to be gone. 02:17.340 --> 02:19.440 I want to go to everything they have. 02:19.440 --> 02:21.700 I have a grand kid running track tonight. 02:22.260 --> 02:27.000 My husband is there so that he could cheer that kid on while I am here. 02:27.280 --> 02:29.660 But that is what I want people to be able to stay. 02:30.120 --> 02:33.820 Now, for people that get a little tired of the winter and weather, 02:34.120 --> 02:36.720 if you want to go for a week or two weeks or whatever, 02:37.060 --> 02:38.820 that is great. I think that's wonderful. 02:39.060 --> 02:43.280 But you shouldn't have to feel like you can only afford your life 02:43.280 --> 02:45.220 if you move out of state. 02:45.220 --> 02:49.920 And so, growing up, we lived in the Painesville area 02:49.920 --> 02:52.080 until I was seven. 02:52.700 --> 02:55.200 My dad is black. My mom is white. 02:56.180 --> 03:02.000 So I was mercilessly teased almost every day called the N-word 03:03.660 --> 03:04.840 in first grade. 03:05.340 --> 03:07.180 Now, I was a big fourth grade kid. 03:07.400 --> 03:08.560 I don't know who he was. 03:08.720 --> 03:12.600 But I had a principal and teachers that said, 03:12.600 --> 03:15.800 that is wrong. And I had no idea what that word meant. 03:16.240 --> 03:19.080 But they said, that is wrong. You come to us. 03:19.140 --> 03:22.540 And so I felt like I had an advocate there as a seven-year-old. 03:22.740 --> 03:25.340 But yet, my parents said it was too hard. 03:25.640 --> 03:29.200 And so we moved to the metro area just for a little bit more diversity. 03:29.380 --> 03:31.980 Went to a private Christian school that first year. 03:32.360 --> 03:34.560 And we moved to South Minneapolis. 03:35.060 --> 03:37.440 And then because of housing and jobs, 03:37.620 --> 03:41.600 then we moved to Robinsdale and to St. Louis Park 03:41.600 --> 03:44.120 and back to South Minneapolis and in Bloomington. 03:44.320 --> 03:45.740 So we moved around a lot. 03:46.000 --> 03:49.340 But I think the reason I tell you that about my background, 03:49.700 --> 03:51.860 I never quite fit in. 03:52.720 --> 03:56.000 And sometimes that makes you stronger later on. 03:56.340 --> 03:58.400 I was never black enough for the black kids. 03:58.580 --> 04:00.820 And I was never white enough for the white kids. 04:01.100 --> 04:04.760 And so I just worked hard and did whatever made sense to me. 04:04.820 --> 04:08.480 Had a really super loving family and good close friends. 04:08.480 --> 04:13.860 But I think when people talk about challenges that you end up finding as an adult, 04:14.200 --> 04:17.400 I think maybe that's why I can let so many things roll off. 04:17.600 --> 04:19.040 Because that's how I learned to do. 04:19.180 --> 04:22.560 Don't let those things hold you back that get in your way. 04:22.640 --> 04:24.380 Push through them and do the right thing. 04:25.220 --> 04:30.380 I moved back as an adult back to the Painesville area by choice. 04:30.780 --> 04:33.840 And it's an honor to be from that area, from greater Minnesota. 04:33.840 --> 04:40.160 I have the unique perspective as any of the other Republican candidates for governor 04:40.160 --> 04:44.700 of living in greater Minnesota and the metro area at two different times. 04:44.700 --> 04:47.260 So I kind of have a little bit more unique perspective. 04:48.220 --> 04:52.320 My husband and I, like I said, we have four kids, four adult kids, 04:52.620 --> 04:56.160 but he is a business owner. I'm a business owner. 04:56.260 --> 05:01.020 So I know firsthand when things happen in St. Paul and decisions are made, 05:01.720 --> 05:05.740 we can either make it easier for families and businesses, or we can make it harder. 05:06.120 --> 05:07.880 And what I'll tell you is we have made it harder. 05:08.340 --> 05:11.720 The decisions that have been made in the legislature and by the governor, 05:11.860 --> 05:15.380 we have made it much harder for people to afford their lives. 05:15.620 --> 05:21.020 And I'm talking about things such as paid family leave, excessive taxes, 05:21.220 --> 05:24.300 and those things that make it just a little bit harder to afford things. 05:27.460 --> 05:29.880 I also ate Pringles on the way here for dinner. 05:33.000 --> 05:35.240 You'll get the true Lisa Daymuth here. 05:35.460 --> 05:40.120 I always have a peanut butter sandwich in my backpack because I never want to go hungry. 05:41.280 --> 05:44.900 And I found Pringles in the car from the weekend and it was awesome. 05:46.880 --> 05:47.880 But anyway, so... 05:48.620 --> 05:53.240 But when I think about those things as a small business owner and how we can provide jobs, 05:53.540 --> 05:55.820 our businesses are the backbone of our communities, 05:55.820 --> 05:58.700 whether they are very small or a little bit larger business. 05:58.700 --> 06:01.440 They are the ones that are providing both the jobs 06:01.440 --> 06:05.500 and the taxes and the infrastructure that we need for the state. 06:05.800 --> 06:11.640 So in 2007, I was, you know, we were raising a family, working really hard. 06:11.920 --> 06:17.400 And I saw in the newspaper that the Rakori School Board 06:17.400 --> 06:21.580 had an election for three members and only one incumbent had filed. 06:21.900 --> 06:24.340 Now, this was after the filing deadline. 06:24.340 --> 06:29.500 And so we still got the same cloud times in, you know, the actual paper. 06:29.880 --> 06:35.560 I did what made sense to me. I tore the article out and I left it at my husband's place for dinner. 06:35.880 --> 06:39.000 And he came home and we sat down and said, hey, you know what, I read this article. 06:39.460 --> 06:41.400 You're going to need to run for the school board. 06:41.700 --> 06:45.060 And he just looked horrified. I mean, he's in manufacturing, design. 06:45.780 --> 06:47.080 He's like, I would never do that. 06:47.280 --> 06:48.760 Now, his dad was in education. 06:49.340 --> 06:52.180 His dad was a superintendent and he had a brother that's a teacher. 06:52.180 --> 06:55.200 And he said, I would never do that. And he said, you do that. 06:55.760 --> 07:02.000 I immediately said, I can't do that. And he asked the best question, which was, why not? 07:02.440 --> 07:06.940 And I said, I don't know. I had never been told. 07:07.220 --> 07:09.380 I told you that a little bit about my background growing up. 07:09.640 --> 07:12.280 Nobody had ever said, hey, Lisa, you can never run for the school board. 07:12.460 --> 07:15.500 I just never thought of it. So it was past the filing date, 07:15.500 --> 07:17.920 which meant my name was not going to be on the ballot. 07:17.920 --> 07:22.580 People needed to remember my name. And I'll give you a little hint on my name. 07:22.720 --> 07:25.260 Damoth is how it's pronounced, my last name. 07:25.800 --> 07:30.200 If you remember Joe Namath, it rhymes, okay? 07:30.820 --> 07:36.540 Now remember him as the big strong football player, not the infomercial dude right now. 07:36.960 --> 07:40.500 But so I knew people had to remember my name. 07:40.720 --> 07:43.200 I talked to teachers. I talked to the superintendent. 07:43.580 --> 07:46.320 I talked to other people and said, I don't really know what it means. 07:46.320 --> 07:50.340 But I believe my community needs me to serve in this role. 07:50.660 --> 07:54.280 I'm going to run for the school board without any marketing background. 07:54.520 --> 07:56.460 I'm thinking, what could I use that would help? 07:56.680 --> 08:03.900 I had pencils printed with www.electlisadamoth.com and handed those out. 08:04.040 --> 08:06.980 I needed people to remember that I needed to be written in. 08:07.280 --> 08:11.940 Well, four people ended up running for the three spots and I ended up being elected. 08:11.940 --> 08:16.840 I went on to serve three complete terms, finishing at the end of 2018 08:16.840 --> 08:21.920 because I felt like I had served well and it was time for that next person, 08:22.060 --> 08:23.760 whoever that was to come in in that role. 08:24.300 --> 08:27.800 Our graduation rates were good. Our student test scores were good. 08:28.040 --> 08:31.640 We had finished a needed building project and it's an expansion. 08:32.140 --> 08:33.300 And so I was going to be done. 08:33.980 --> 08:41.940 And in the end of May of 18, my representative was going to be running for an open senate seat. 08:42.340 --> 08:45.220 Now I had met him, but we didn't know each other well. 08:45.760 --> 08:48.440 And he called me on Memorial Day of 2018. 08:48.980 --> 08:50.700 And he said, hey, and he gave me his name. 08:50.860 --> 08:53.780 And he said, have you ever thought of running for the House of Representatives? 08:54.420 --> 08:56.900 I said, nope, it's never crossed my mind. 08:57.260 --> 08:59.140 And I kind of laughed, too. 08:59.520 --> 09:02.160 And he said, well, I've got the, and so we talked about it. 09:02.160 --> 09:06.960 And this was my response. Now granted, always conservative, always voted, 09:07.480 --> 09:14.380 didn't pay attention enough to what was happening in St. Paul during the process, only the after effects. 09:14.600 --> 09:17.260 And I said, you guys fight too much and you don't get anything done. 09:17.440 --> 09:21.080 And he said, no, no, no, stop watching all the news. And so we talked about it. 09:23.380 --> 09:26.500 I laughed, went downstairs. It was Memorial Day. 09:26.640 --> 09:28.560 So our adult kids were there. We had one out of town. 09:28.660 --> 09:30.840 My mom was there. I said, you're never going to believe this. 09:30.840 --> 09:34.220 And I told them what I had been asked. And we did laugh about it. 09:34.320 --> 09:39.140 But it was my daughter who said, what could you actually bring to that role? 09:40.400 --> 09:46.060 Business experience, elected official experience, involved in your community, involved in your church. 09:46.200 --> 09:47.580 What could you bring to that role? 09:48.460 --> 09:52.220 So I didn't know. We talked about it, laughed about it, you know, thought about it through the night. 09:52.300 --> 09:55.820 And then, and I love being able to tell this to a group of people in a church. 09:55.820 --> 10:00.560 This is my favorite part because in our forums and the governor candidate things, 10:00.620 --> 10:02.680 we never have enough time to get into the weeds here. 10:02.820 --> 10:04.620 So I'm going to take an extra minute if I can. 10:04.800 --> 10:09.200 Okay. I had been involved in Bible study fellowship for a number of years. 10:09.560 --> 10:18.320 And I remember the beginning of May, I had found a verse in Romans that Paul was thanking the people along his journey. 10:18.800 --> 10:20.420 And that stuck out to me. 10:20.420 --> 10:24.020 He was thanking Arastus, the director of Public Works. 10:24.460 --> 10:29.260 And I remember going to my group, the Bible study ladies, and I was excited. 10:29.400 --> 10:34.420 I show them, I'm like, and in this verse, and they all kind of blank faced and they nodded a little bit. 10:34.540 --> 10:37.900 And I'm thinking, that was the coolest verse in the world to me. 10:38.460 --> 10:44.040 Because God cared about our involvement in the community is what that stuck out to me as. 10:44.260 --> 10:49.300 And so I had marked it in my Bible and I wished I would have brought my Bible with for tonight, but it's home. 10:49.300 --> 10:50.720 I was in St. Paul. 10:51.460 --> 10:56.260 But I have it marked in there, the date that I found it, because it stuck out to me. 10:56.980 --> 11:01.040 Right before we went to bed that night, I told my husband, hold on, there's a verse. 11:01.480 --> 11:04.400 This is before I told my representative that I would run. 11:04.720 --> 11:07.580 I got my Bible, I found it, I read it to him. 11:07.640 --> 11:09.220 I said, this is the verse, it mattered. 11:09.460 --> 11:13.280 You know, God had Paul put this in Romans because it mattered. 11:13.640 --> 11:16.220 You know, he was thanking people and my husband said, there's your answer. 11:16.220 --> 11:18.640 I didn't have to think or pray about it any further. 11:18.880 --> 11:20.480 I knew it was supposed to run for the legislature. 11:20.980 --> 11:26.000 And I did and I won and I have served now in my fourth term. 11:26.260 --> 11:31.140 It has been one of the best opportunities that I've ever had to serve my community. 11:31.440 --> 11:34.300 So if you look at that serving as a... 11:34.300 --> 11:37.020 Well, actually, I was a worship leader at my church for 16 years. 11:37.380 --> 11:43.500 Our church started in Cold Spring 33 years ago, served and started a mom's group, 11:43.500 --> 11:48.120 served and taught the girls program there, served as a worship leader. 11:48.400 --> 11:51.140 I did those things. Then I served as a school board member 11:51.140 --> 11:56.480 and this was going to be the next opportunity to serve my community in the legislature. 11:59.820 --> 12:01.880 We attend River of Life in Cold Spring. 12:03.700 --> 12:06.280 So, we've been there from the very start when it started. 12:06.540 --> 12:10.180 We saw it from the ground up when we met in the Alino building 12:10.180 --> 12:12.140 and then the high school and then finally built 12:12.140 --> 12:15.140 and our kids got to rollerblade during construction 12:15.140 --> 12:19.820 because we'd go do construction cleanup and we'd put the rollerblades on the littles 12:19.820 --> 12:21.760 and they could just kind of have fun while we were working. 12:21.980 --> 12:24.600 But really that involvement really mattered very much to me. 12:25.100 --> 12:28.900 Ran for the legislature. The areas that I focused on when I was first in the legislature, 12:29.300 --> 12:33.500 early childhood, because to me, if a community has strong child care 12:33.980 --> 12:36.400 and you're supporting families, you have a stronger community. 12:37.500 --> 12:40.680 Because of my school board experience, I served on education, finance, 12:40.680 --> 12:44.580 and then greater Minnesota jobs and then one of the next terms, health finance. 12:44.980 --> 12:48.400 And all I want is for Minnesota to be stronger and better. 12:48.560 --> 12:49.640 It seemed very simple. 12:49.960 --> 12:53.620 Now, my party was in the minority the entire time, which meant 12:53.620 --> 12:57.660 we could have really good ideas and they didn't need the votes and it didn't matter. 12:58.180 --> 13:02.940 Well, when we took the minority again, my third term, so with the 22 election, 13:03.660 --> 13:07.700 that night, you know, we were expected to take part of the majority someplace in state government. 13:07.700 --> 13:12.860 And I remember my husband knew that I won my legislative seat again. 13:13.140 --> 13:16.040 He went to Betty on an early flight and then the next morning I said, 13:16.060 --> 13:16.980 hey, we lost everything. 13:17.140 --> 13:20.860 We're in the like deep minority here, full Democrat control in the state of Minnesota. 13:21.460 --> 13:24.480 And he said, well, what are you going to do? 13:24.820 --> 13:26.000 I said, I'm going to quit. 13:26.280 --> 13:27.640 And he said, you would never quit. 13:27.740 --> 13:28.560 I said, I know I'm kidding. 13:29.160 --> 13:32.780 I ended up running for leadership within my caucus. 13:33.140 --> 13:36.740 Because to me, if you think things need to change 13:36.740 --> 13:39.920 and you see that they're not necessarily changing, 13:40.200 --> 13:41.640 step up, quit complaining. 13:42.060 --> 13:44.480 And just step in and start doing something, 13:44.820 --> 13:46.640 not because you may have all the answers, 13:46.980 --> 13:50.160 because something needed change, ran for leadership within my caucus. 13:50.420 --> 13:52.740 And I won as minority leader, 13:53.720 --> 13:58.020 serving the entire time that the Democrats had full control of state government. 13:58.420 --> 14:01.560 I will give a lot of credit to former speaker Melissa Hortman. 14:02.060 --> 14:04.600 She's the only speaker that I had ever served under. 14:04.600 --> 14:08.200 When I became the leader, she called me and she said, congratulations, 14:08.800 --> 14:10.280 we should start meeting weekly. 14:10.880 --> 14:14.140 And I said, you don't even need my votes. 14:14.260 --> 14:16.060 And she said, we're going to be working together. 14:16.760 --> 14:18.420 We need to get to know each other. 14:18.720 --> 14:21.860 And even though we were on opposite political sides, 14:22.380 --> 14:24.160 I really learned a lot from that, 14:24.220 --> 14:28.400 because things can seem so divided in the legislature, 14:28.660 --> 14:32.100 even though she and I did not agree politically. 14:32.680 --> 14:37.620 At least we got to know each other about our kids and her love of baking 14:37.620 --> 14:40.740 and gardening both of us and what mattered. 14:40.940 --> 14:44.580 Now I couldn't change the votes and the things that were done in 23 and 24 14:44.580 --> 14:47.900 damaged our state for potentially generations. 14:48.020 --> 14:50.500 So I'm not saying that was okay, 14:50.500 --> 14:53.420 but what I am saying is when you can respect people 14:53.420 --> 14:56.280 and have civil conversations, 14:57.200 --> 14:59.000 even when you disagree, 14:59.480 --> 15:02.060 we are all going to be better because of that. 15:02.360 --> 15:04.600 And that absolutely, absolutely. 15:05.660 --> 15:08.260 And I think that is what I wanted to bring to the role. 15:08.440 --> 15:12.060 So then, 2024, all of a sudden that night of the election, 15:12.300 --> 15:14.820 we got all the results in by about 2.30 in the morning, 15:15.760 --> 15:16.720 we were in a tie. 15:16.960 --> 15:18.320 I get a text from Melissa that says, 15:18.340 --> 15:20.040 looks like we're blessed to work in a tie. 15:20.360 --> 15:21.780 I'm like, I'll see you in a couple of hours. 15:22.120 --> 15:23.720 We had to navigate our way through. 15:24.060 --> 15:27.720 Now, Tad talked about the overreach of the Secretary of State. 15:27.720 --> 15:30.020 He wouldn't recognize, he swore us in, 15:30.380 --> 15:32.280 but he wouldn't recognize us on the floor. 15:32.720 --> 15:34.740 I got sued at the Supreme Court level 15:34.740 --> 15:39.220 and had to tell my mom, don't respond on Facebook, I'm fine. 15:39.560 --> 15:41.760 I'm not going to jail. It's all okay, you know. 15:42.100 --> 15:43.720 But, you know, it was really frustrating 15:43.720 --> 15:45.800 because the Democrats stayed out of power, 15:46.340 --> 15:47.420 they stayed out of office, 15:47.680 --> 15:48.860 still collecting their checks 15:48.860 --> 15:50.600 because it's constitutionally guaranteed 15:50.600 --> 15:51.740 and we couldn't stop it. 15:51.920 --> 15:53.280 23 days we fought that. 15:53.620 --> 15:55.940 Let me tell you why prayer matters so much to me. 15:56.440 --> 15:59.920 I was in that room and negotiating because that was my job. 16:00.120 --> 16:03.020 I was going to be either a co-speaker 16:03.020 --> 16:04.340 if we were truly in a tie, 16:04.460 --> 16:05.620 ended up being full speaker 16:05.620 --> 16:08.400 because they supported a guy that didn't live in the district. 16:08.980 --> 16:10.660 And so that's why they stayed out. 16:11.040 --> 16:12.560 I remember, you know, having, 16:12.700 --> 16:15.180 I have a small group that'll pray for me and my husband. 16:15.600 --> 16:18.180 But, you know, we'd go back and forth with these negotiations 16:18.180 --> 16:20.120 just figuring out how we start this out. 16:21.000 --> 16:24.240 Back in 1979, there was a tie in the House of Representatives. 16:24.240 --> 16:25.980 It did not go well. 16:26.340 --> 16:29.900 So Melissa and I decided we could get this done a little bit better. 16:30.180 --> 16:33.060 And we worked toward that until they stayed out 16:33.060 --> 16:33.960 and then it was complicated. 16:34.760 --> 16:37.420 Still negotiating that organizational agreement, 16:37.580 --> 16:39.380 trying to be fair with it, trying to get it done. 16:39.520 --> 16:42.660 And finally we hit an impasse that we could not get past. 16:42.920 --> 16:44.920 And it was math to me. 16:45.500 --> 16:48.820 Republicans had 67 members, Democrats had 66. 16:49.360 --> 16:50.340 That is not a tie. 16:51.020 --> 16:52.500 That is a one-seat advantage, 16:52.500 --> 16:54.640 even if it wasn't a functional majority. 16:54.880 --> 16:56.960 And I wouldn't give up on those things 16:56.960 --> 16:59.540 such as a co-speaker and all of those things 16:59.540 --> 17:02.440 because the math proved that there wasn't a tie. 17:02.760 --> 17:05.120 And I remember the night before we finally settled 17:05.120 --> 17:09.420 after hours and hours and days of these negotiations, 17:09.600 --> 17:11.800 I called my husband late that night and I said, 17:11.880 --> 17:12.860 I have prayed about this. 17:13.200 --> 17:15.280 I know we're doing the right thing. 17:15.520 --> 17:18.120 I'm not reaching for power or anything like that. 17:18.260 --> 17:19.880 This is the right thing for Minnesota. 17:20.900 --> 17:22.340 I don't know what to do. 17:22.500 --> 17:23.380 And he said, I'll pray. 17:23.620 --> 17:26.100 And I remember not being able to sleep most of that night. 17:26.580 --> 17:30.400 We walked in the next morning with other people from each side, 17:30.400 --> 17:32.660 so it was very equal in this meeting. 17:33.180 --> 17:35.340 And the offer that came across the table 17:35.340 --> 17:38.180 is exactly what we had been asking for days. 17:40.420 --> 17:42.380 And the question was what changed? 17:42.700 --> 17:43.980 I remember walking out with my team. 17:44.140 --> 17:46.040 I'm like, what am I missing in there? 17:46.200 --> 17:46.920 Like, that's our offer. 17:47.420 --> 17:49.100 It was the right thing to do for Minnesota. 17:49.100 --> 17:51.180 Which is why right now, 17:51.380 --> 17:55.340 the things that 67 members with a Republican speaker 17:55.340 --> 17:58.340 are able to prevent is happening. 17:58.840 --> 18:02.240 Without that, we would have basically no power. 18:02.700 --> 18:04.220 So the things that I was able to do 18:04.220 --> 18:06.040 as Speaker of the House last year, 18:06.360 --> 18:09.160 negotiating one half of one third of state government, 18:09.360 --> 18:11.040 the only Republican in that room, 18:11.660 --> 18:15.100 ending the taxpayer funding of illegal immigrant health care. 18:15.460 --> 18:17.260 That means if people are here illegally, 18:17.260 --> 18:19.640 they absolutely can get the health care. 18:19.980 --> 18:22.100 It just means that they're going to have to pay for it, 18:22.100 --> 18:24.060 that the taxpayers can't pay for that. 18:24.340 --> 18:28.240 It had exploded by over 15,000 people, 18:28.440 --> 18:31.280 more than they expected total, in four short months. 18:31.760 --> 18:35.300 We were also able to cut the budget by $5 billion, 18:35.920 --> 18:39.460 the spending, and we protected our non-public education 18:39.460 --> 18:42.220 from cuts that Governor Walz was insistent on. 18:42.680 --> 18:44.260 To me, it wasn't about the dollar amount 18:44.260 --> 18:45.480 for non-public education. 18:45.480 --> 18:47.260 It was a tack on religious freedom 18:47.260 --> 18:51.020 and the freedom of families to be able to make those choices. 18:51.340 --> 18:53.980 So I'm going to quick tell you what I have looking forward 18:53.980 --> 18:55.020 that I'll turn it over to you, 18:55.020 --> 18:56.660 because I could talk to you all night. 18:58.540 --> 19:01.240 But what I want to do, though, as Governor, 19:01.400 --> 19:02.940 my running mate is Ryan Wilson. 19:04.020 --> 19:08.340 He had run for state auditor back in 2022. 19:09.040 --> 19:11.560 Fantastic person, lives in the Maple Grove area, 19:11.560 --> 19:15.840 married, dad of five kids, former business owner, 19:16.020 --> 19:18.780 he's an attorney, he's absolutely a fantastic person. 19:19.080 --> 19:22.080 He lost by 8,000 votes in the midterm. 19:22.640 --> 19:26.940 We had 200,000 Republicans that didn't show up to vote. 19:28.240 --> 19:33.760 This is how we can defeat whoever the Senator Klobuchar 19:33.760 --> 19:37.080 is their person that will be running 19:37.080 --> 19:38.600 their candidate for governor right now. 19:39.100 --> 19:41.180 I didn't think it was going to be Tim Walz anyway, 19:41.180 --> 19:43.740 but here we are, and this is how we do it. 19:43.880 --> 19:45.760 We unify together as Republicans. 19:46.280 --> 19:48.360 And we get on the same page early on, 19:48.520 --> 19:50.360 and we work toward that. 19:50.620 --> 19:54.080 It doesn't mean fighting and being disrespectful to people 19:54.080 --> 19:56.480 and being crazy angry about things. 19:56.620 --> 19:57.280 It doesn't mean that. 19:57.520 --> 20:00.280 It means unifying in a message that makes sense. 20:00.760 --> 20:04.640 Lowering taxes, protecting our religious freedoms, 20:04.980 --> 20:07.840 protecting our kids so that they have the education 20:07.840 --> 20:10.020 that they deserve, public, private, charter, 20:10.020 --> 20:14.180 homeschool, keeping boys out of girls' locker rooms 20:14.180 --> 20:17.080 and bathrooms, because that is an issue of safety. 20:17.740 --> 20:19.580 That is just an issue of safety. 20:19.880 --> 20:21.160 Those are common sense things. 20:21.520 --> 20:24.500 Protecting our taxpayer dollars from the fraud 20:24.500 --> 20:25.720 that has gone rampant. 20:25.920 --> 20:29.100 Making sure that we are using taxpayer dollars 20:29.100 --> 20:32.040 in the best way and not overtaxing Minnesota. 20:32.780 --> 20:35.840 Also creating Minnesota to be business friendly 20:35.840 --> 20:38.120 so people can grow and thrive here. 20:38.120 --> 20:40.700 I am a pro-life person. 20:40.880 --> 20:44.460 I have always supported life from conception to natural death 20:44.460 --> 20:46.240 and I won't back down on that. 20:46.380 --> 20:48.080 That is incredibly important. 20:48.300 --> 20:50.880 That is our future and it is biblical. 20:51.840 --> 20:52.300 It is, yeah. 20:56.680 --> 20:58.520 We have gone so far from that, 20:58.540 --> 21:01.660 but there are opportunities to care about people. 21:01.980 --> 21:05.480 All of the funding for our pregnancy resource centers 21:05.480 --> 21:07.520 was taken away in 2023. 21:08.200 --> 21:10.720 Now that gives the opportunity for a church to step up 21:10.720 --> 21:11.220 absolutely. 21:11.800 --> 21:14.280 But there is no reason why we shouldn't restore that funding. 21:14.680 --> 21:16.460 And that is something that I would like to do. 21:17.240 --> 21:20.020 I have agreed to abide by the endorsement. 21:20.360 --> 21:22.080 I have always received that endorsement 21:22.080 --> 21:24.740 when I have run for my legislative races. 21:25.180 --> 21:28.380 And so I am both seeking and will abide by that endorsement. 21:28.820 --> 21:31.220 I do support our Second Amendment rights. 21:31.540 --> 21:33.120 That is our constitutional right. 21:33.480 --> 21:36.960 And we can have safe gun ownership in a responsible way. 21:37.200 --> 21:39.980 But people's hearts that think they need to use 21:39.980 --> 21:42.980 a weapon of choice to kill or hurt other people 21:42.980 --> 21:45.780 is where the original problem is. 21:45.960 --> 21:47.320 And we have to look at that. 21:47.680 --> 21:50.420 So with that being said, I know that I'm going to turn it back to you. 21:50.760 --> 21:51.480 There will be questions. 21:51.980 --> 21:54.960 Thank you so very much for listening and for staying engaged. 21:55.300 --> 21:56.840 It is my honor to be with you tonight.