Bluestem Prairie reports something Franson terms "Medical Freedom" which means what she says it means, but with cohort attention it means more than Mary.
As best viewed (without too much attention - as little as deserved) it appears an anti-vax, anti-mask snit-fit; so hold it at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul.
This from Sorensen's post - apparently a quote from a Tweet:
A quick assessment of Saturday's rally:
2,000 rally at State Capitol against mandates for masks, vaccinations including:
- Rep. Mary Franson
- Rep. Eric Lucero
- Sen. Jim Abeler
- GOP governor candidate Scott Jensen
- GOP governor candidate Neil Shah
Today's GOP has gone fully Luddite [...]
Abeler should know better. To the extent Anoka County has an entrenched GOP establishment machine, it amounts to Abeler and Associates, Legislators at Law.
Not the best, nor brightest, but embryo loving patriotic self-imaged stuff. The DFL does not view Anoka County as its soundest political stronghold; that being an effort at understatement.
But what a list of luminaries. You want to be MN GOP Guv nominee, you jump at news attention; rallies in St. Paul and such. Two there, and why wait until there is a new party chair? Move quickly. Strike while the iron is - - - still in the forge, heating up.
MIA at the big MedFreedom event, apparently, Michelle Benson, who has her own separate news story of today.
GOP Sen. Michelle Benson jumps into Minnesota governor's race
She's the first woman in either party to announce a run for governor.Elizabeth Flores, Star Tribune -Republican Sen. Michelle Benson, alongside her family including her husband Craig, launched her campaign for governor Wednesday in Blaine.State Sen. Michelle Benson officially jumped into the race for Minnesota governor on Wednesday, joining a crowded field of Republican candidates angling to challenge Gov. Tim Walz next fall.
Benson, a four-term senator from suburban Ham Lake, served as deputy majority leader and currently chairs a powerful health and human services finance committee, which determines billions of dollars in state health care spending every two years. She's the first woman to jump into the race in either party, aiming to become the first woman to be elected governor in Minnesota.
[italics added] So, will Benson join the anti-vax, anti-mask rag-tag activism crowd, or will she be smarter? She who chairs a committee which moves a billion here, a billion there, so that pretty soon she's shepherding and directing real money.
The Strib item quotes her:
"I've chaired the toughest budget committee in the Senate and I've also balanced that with being at the grocery store and watching prices rise and the obligations of a mom," Benson said Wednesday in Blaine, launching her campaign alongside her family. "I understand the story of Minnesotans and what they've been through in the last year and that will set me apart and make me a good governor."
Perhaps fodder for another post, Craig Benson shown above; in the news back in 2018. The entire Benson wannabe-Guv Gestalt might be appropriate to examine, but for now the field of Guv wannabes of the GOP is still filling out, not yet contracting to a fewer better-funded ones.
Benson's gotten past direct campaign funding from Cummins and the Howard Hamilton spouses during past campaigns; so she has that arrow in her quiver. As to PAC money and the persons behind such slush, that would have to be researched by ones caring substantially about money in politics and having the resources to find and interpret diverse public records and such, with tracks often hidden on purpose. Lifting multiple rocks to see what crawls beneath. Someone should do it.
(At a guess, Sorensen will be posting something about candidate funding, between now and the 2022 GOP primary. Likely she will post quite a bit on topic, so keep watching her website.)
_________UPDATE_________
In the 2018 Strib report, we see in closing paragraphs the graciousness of one of Benson's top MN Senate GOP colleagues -
Michelle Benson, who is a leading voice for fiscal conservatism in the state Senate and often an opponent of government intervention in the economy, said that she and her husband are seeking government help — in the form of the bankruptcy court — to help them get back on their feet.
Sen. Paul Gazelka, the Republican leader, praised Benson in a statement and said risk-taking is the heart of the jobs economy.
"This is a personal setback that will have no effect on Sen. Benson's strong leadership," he said. "I know she will continue to faithfully serve her constituents with character and integrity."
We must believe that nothing would shake Sen. Gazelka's steadfast support and belief in Benson, now or in the near or distant future. He is a consistent man, so that his praise for Benson should likely not lessen.
_________FURTHER UPDATE________
Something on Ballotpedia suggests Benson would be a more diversified candidate and better suited for the office of Governor than Gazelka, (if solely having to choose between the two.
Link, beginning -
Gazelka earned his undergraduate degree in business management from Oral Roberts University. His professional experience includes working as a State Farm insurance agent in Madison and Brainerd.
An insurance selling zealot. I envision Michel Bachmann, another Oral Roberts alum, selling insurance. Through a bullhorn, being Michel. The Bachmann vision being a contrast to Gazelka's steady but not hyped rise legislatively, quietly, smoothly and with cultivated relationships among colleagues.
One thing troubles me. It seems a strong belief in the inevitability of "God's will" stands in incompatible tension with "risk everywhere, insure - be secure."
Compare hedging a bet when having some doubt the bet is figured out correctly. That is a feeling I have.
Wikipedia fails to change my mind, while fleshing out "Gazelka is . . ." -
Ideologically, Gazelka is member of the Christian right,[8] and the Star Tribune described Gazelka as "the most socially conservative person in modern times to serve as Minnesota Senate majority leader."[2] He opposes same-sex marriage and championed a failed 2012 effort to amend the state constitution to ban the recognition of same-sex marriage in the state.[8] Gazelka has blocked proposals to ban "conversion therapy" for minors in Minnesota, though he has said that he did not support "coercive or aversive counseling."[8][9] Gazelka and his wife once sent their child to a conversion therapist.[8]
In 2020, following the death in police custody of George Floyd and subsequent protests, Gazelka and Minnesota Senate Republicans blocked police reform proposals;[10] a compromise reform package was agreed upon in a subsequent special session.[11][12]
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gazelka was one of the most outspoken opponents of public health mandates (such as business closures and requirements to wear face coverings in indoor public places) imposed by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to prevent the spread of the virus.[13] Gazelka led Republicans in blocking a Democratic proposal to require face coverings to be worn in public areas of the State Capitol.[13] Many Republican senators refused to wear face coverings in the Senate chamber, straining relations with the Democrats.[13] In December 2020, after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sought civil penalties against bars and restaurants that openly flouted the state's COVID-19 rules, Gazelka threatened to reduce the budget for the attorney general's office.[14]
Gazelka and Daudt, each in his way, represent MN GOP exemplars. Each apart from key Minnesota municipalities. Neither ivy league, nor near it. Sell cars; sell insurance. Bonding by shared expertise and outlook. Benson seems more diverse a personality. Still though, within a narrow range of outlook standing far from secular progressive insight. In a collective heap where Walz will likely get a four-more against any one of them, general election. With Walz, himself, standing far from secular progressive insight. Yet with Walz being distinctively above the awful state to which GOP evolution has sunk.
_________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Pioneer Press has better coverage, an AP feed, merging Benson and Gazelka stories into a single report.