MINNEAPOLIS — Seven Republicans have lined up for a chance to take on U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar in November, but two have raised the most money and fared best in polls.
They are Royce White, a conservative charismatic populist endorsed by the state party, and Joe Fraser, a business executive and Navy veteran. Both are confident they can be the first Republican to win a statewide race in Minnesota since 2006.
At a candidate forum sponsored by Alpha News, White said his top campaign issues are securing the border, dealing with federal debt and avoiding entanglement in "forever wars" on foreign soil.
White, who calls Trump advisor Steve Bannon a mentor and friend, warns against a "technocracy" and a "corporate-ocracy" in his speeches and his "Please, Call Me Crazy" podcast. His campaign ads warn of a vast conspiracy to turn Americans into serfs or slaves as part of a global economy.
"Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Finance all conspire with the federal government to suppress and omit certain information when they see fit," White tells viewers in the ad.
"We are not slaves. We are not serfs. Our children are not sexual experiments. We cannot submit to being guinea pigs for mad scientists."
The term "mad scientists" in the ad is accompanied by an image of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the physician and epidemiologist who led the U.S. response to the COVID pandemic.
White first came to prominence as a high school athlete. He was named Minnesota's Mr. Basketball in 2009 during his senior year at Hopkins High School. He signed with the Minnesota Golden Gophers but was suspended during his freshman year after being hit with a misdemeanor shoplifting charge.
He left the program and two years later became a star power forward for the Iowa State Cyclones. The Houston Rockets drafted White in the first round in 2012, but his NBA career was cut short because the league couldn't make enough accommodations for his anxiety issues, which at times included a fear of flying.
White used the situation to call attention to the lack of policies in the NBA for dealing with mental health among players. He appeared on Dr. Phil's daytime show in 2013 to explain the anxiety he'd been struggling with since his teenage years, and his battle to play professional basketball.
"Mental health needs to be addressed in the NBA," White told the studio audience and those watching TV across the the nation.
"Mental health is talked about in hushed tones in America."
White played in only three regular season games under a short contract with the Sacramento Kings, but still plays in a professional three-on-three league. In a 2018 interview with KARE 11, White said he would consider donating his salary if he could get back into the NBA.
"It’s obvious the NBA’s attitude has not changed much because there still isn’t a policy."
White returned to the spotlight in 2020 when he led Black solidarity marches in the weeks and months after George Floyd was murdered. He also organized exhibition basketball tournaments in hopes of bringing communities together.
He told KARE 11 that athletes can play an important role in community movements.
"Athletes are perfectly conditioned to lead their communities. We understand the importance of competition. We understand the importance of self-sacrifice."
He attracted the attention of Steve Bannon, who was intrigued by the fact White's marches after George Floyd made stops at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve bank.
Two years later, White ran as a Republican for Congress in Minnesota's 5th District. He lost that race but continued to speak out against perceived threats to individual liberty from the government and global corporations.
On the Fourth of July, White rallied with two dozen supporters outside the Federal Reserve Bank. He said the Federal Reserve system is what enables the U.S. to fight in overseas wars.
"Because when we have to go fight a war and spend money we don’t have, they have to print it somewhere, and that’s where they print it, right down here."
He also took a shot at his primary opponent Joe Fraser, for using gender pronouns on his LinkedIn profile.
"We all can see you. You’re a middle-aged man! We know what men are. We know what women are. We don’t need to announce it to the world!"
White received a warm welcome from audience members at Former President Donald Trump's rally in St. Cloud July 27. When he posted a selfie from the event to social media, one of the comments was that all the Trump supporters posing with him are racists.
He responded to that on this "Please, Call Me Crazy" podcast.
"Those people in the arena Saturday up in St. Cloud at the Trump rally aren’t racist," White told the audience.
"They just want to have a country. They just don’t want to have their country be run by liberals and communists, who say that a man can become a woman on any given day they choose."
Joe Fraser
His main challenger in Tuesday's Republican primary is Joe Fraser, a California native who spent 26 years in the Navy before a embarking on a career in banking.
Fraser said he originally hesitated to run against the state party's endorsed candidate, but now believes voters will view it as proof that he can be an independent thinker.
"I can stand up for what I believe in, stand on my principals, stand up against the party bosses and say, 'I disagree with you'," Fraser told KARE.
Republicans haven't won a statewide race in Minnesota since 2006, but Fraser asserts conditions are ripe for an upset of Amy Klobuchar due in large part to the economy of the past three years.
"People care about what's coming out of their wallet these days and how expensive it is to buy groceries, and pay for electricity, and rent. You can't even buy, because of interest rates and inflation."
While some Republicans are divided over foreign wars and Ukraine specifically, Fraser asserts the U.S. has an obligation to support that nation in it's struggle with Russia.
"They’re fighting a bully, and we need to help them fight a bully if we stand up for liberty and justice for all," Fraser remarked.
"We’re not being the world’s policeman. We’re being a good friend. And we understand that if the bully wins here, the bully will start to go other places."
He said the U.S. should also continue to support Israel militarily because Iran has unlimited resources to fund proxy wars against Israel, funding terrorist groups such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah on the Lebanese border.
Fraser said he believes he stands a better chance against Klobuchar in November than White does. Among his endorsements are former Governor Tim Pawlenty, and former U.S. Senators Norm Coleman and Rudy Boschwitz.
"I wanted to spend the summer talking about Amy, but instead we’re talking about the un-electability of Royce White."
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. To find your polling place, consult the Minnesota Secretary of State's poll finder web page.