PLYMOUTH, MN - Before a sold-out crowd, five leading conservative candidates presented their vision for Minnesota at Minnesota Family Council's Minnesota Leadership Forum in Plymouth last Wednesday, under the watchful eye of moderator Hugh Hewitt. Thousands of Minnesotans tuned in through a live YouTube stream by Alpha News and radio feed on AM 1280 The Patriot, in addition to the nearly 600 conservative voters and activists in the seats at Providence Academy’s Performing Arts Center.
The Leadership Forum, the largest event of the 2022 gubernatorial campaign so far, brought a focus on social issues that was missing in earlier events. “On behalf of the millions of pro-life voters in Minnesota, I was incredibly pleased to get strong assurances from the five candidates that each of them pledges, if elected, to use the ’bully pulpit’ of the governorship to protect life from conception to natural death,” said John Helmberger, CEO of Minnesota Family Council and principal organizer of the event. “We also heard strong commitments from the candidates supporting increased protections for religious freedom and better school choice options. The advantage of an event like this, early in the campaign, is that it allows conservative voters to hear from all the candidates as we approach the party endorsement process. As Minnesota’s largest Christian education and public policy group dedicated to life, family, and religious freedom, we feel it’s crucial to give conservative voters all the facts as they make their personal choice as to which candidate to support,” Helmberger continued.
The five leading candidates who participated were Senator Michelle Benson, Senator Paul Gazelka, Doctor Scott Jensen, Mayor Mike Murphy, and Doctor Neil Shah. Approximately 1/3 of participants chose to participate in a straw poll held at the end of the event, in which Doctor Neil Shah came out with a strong lead. “It was really interesting to see Dr. Shah come out ahead in the straw poll,” said Moses Bratrud, Director of Communications at Minnesota Family Council. “There were a lot of Shah supporters in the room, so this speaks more to his ability to mobilize supporters for events like this than to his appeal with undecided voters, but I think everyone agrees he had a strong showing on the debate stage. We heard from one prominent conservative activist who voted for Shah in the straw poll simply because he was the most entertaining candidate on the stage. That’s not something to discount."
Helmberger concluded: “We’re thrilled at the level of energy among pro-life and pro-family voters. We think all of these candidates are ready for a strong showing in 2022. I’m particularly grateful to Hugh Hewitt, whose expert moderating abilities kept us on track and made for a tight, professional event.”
