Kendall Qualls — the Republican Party’s endorsed candidate for governor — has some tough feedback for the GOP. Dana spoke with Qualls during an event for endorsed candidates in Brainerd the day President Donald Trump endorsed his challenger MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell in the race. That day, Minnesota Republican Party Chair Alex Plechash issued a statement saying nominating Lindell could sink Republicans’ chances in November. But he didn’t mention Qualls by name as the party’s better option. Asked about that, Qualls said he and Plechash have had conversations. “I'm having daily discussions with the state chair now,” he said. Days after the GOP convention, Plechash took the unusual step of unbinding candidates who’d lost the endorsement from following through on pledges not to move on to a primary, citing issues with voting technology. That made way for House Speaker Lisa Demuth to launch a bid in the primary race. Qualls said he wants to see a shakeup in Republican Party leadership that could better set up candidates for success. “We've had a revolving door for the state party chair. Basically, I think we've had five in thelast five chairs in the last 10 years. The other part is just that we haven't won in such a long time. We've forgotten how to do it,” Qualls said. “Once we get some statewide cash, once I get elected, we're going to put the basic fundamentals back in at the state party, and start you know basically this process of how do we ensure that we are rowing in the same direction at the same time?”

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Mike Lindell wrapped up Trump’s endorsement last week, but the Star Tribune reports he’s still not registered to vote in Minnesota. Lindell scored a major victory last week, when President Donald Trump endorsed his campaign. The endorsement is a boon to Lindell’s campaign for governor. He’s taking on two formidable opponents in the GOP primary — the party endorsed candidate Kendall Qualls and the speaker of the Minnesota House Lisa Demuth. The Star Tribune’s Walker Orenstein and Emilie Munson report that Lindell still has an active voter registration in Texas, where he’d lived in the last few years before returning to Minnesota to run for governor. Lindell told the Tribune he didn’t know if he was registered in Minnesota and said “obviously I’m going to vote” in Minnesota, adding that he wouldn’t vote in Texas. “I’m not going to vote twice,” he said.

Democrat Amy Klobuchar is trying to take a friendlier approach with the business community than some farther to the left in her party as she makes her case for why she should be Minnesota’s next governor. Star Tribune reporter Ryan Faircloth reports that the U.S. senator is taking a more moderate approach to boost the state’s economy than some in her party. She has said she wouldn’t approve tax hikes, which have recently been proposed by Democrats at the state Capitol for the state’s highest earners. And she’s come short of setting a moratorium for data centers in the state, a move other Democrats have proposed to curb their rollout elsewhere. “We’re going to have to grow in our state,” Klobuchar told the Star Tribune. “We’ve got to get to a place where we believe that investing in Minnesota is part of the solution.” The positions could set up conflicts within the DFL if Klobuchar is elected and sent to the governor’s office along with a Legislature led by Democrats, some of whom would like to see more regulations on businesses and additional taxes on companies and wealthy Minnesotans to offset the costs of child care and other programs for lower-income Minnesotans.

Minnpost’s Ana Radelat took a deep dive into Minnesota’s congressional delegation’s use of taxpayer-funded communications known as franks and reports that U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach was the most prolific user of the franked messages. Radelat reports that Minnesota’s eight members of the House spent almost $200,000 in the first quarter of this year to put out 162 messages to constituents in the form of mailers, emails, radio spots and texts. The franked communications are meant to keep people apprised of the work their representatives are doing in Washington. And they can see an uptick in election years as legislators (particularly those vying for reelection) aim to highlight the work they’ve done.