Photos by Deb Gau Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen talks with Cindy Winn and Steve Mohwinkel before the start of the Lyon County Republicans fall dinner on Friday night.

MARSHALL — As Election Day gets closer, Minnesota Republicans will need to stay focused on the issues, gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen said Friday. However, Jensen said those issues wouldn’t be the same ones Democratic candidates talked about.

At a fall dinner held by the Lyon County Republicans, Jensen said Gov. Tim Walz would try to “distract” from campaign issues voters really cared about.

“He’s going to tell you that the issue isn’t that cops are being disrespected, that the issue isn’t inflation and empty grocery store shelves, that the issue isn’t what’s happening to our kids, that the issue isn’t that we’re not helping out agribusiness communities,” Jensen told a crowd of about 155 area residents and Southwest Minnesota State University students. “That’s what he’s going to tell you. But you know better than that.”

Other speakers at the dinner also said they would be focused on issues like crime and education.

“What is really affecting people is inflation, crime and the border. That’s what people are talking to me about,” said U.S. Rep. Michelle Fishbach. “We need to be looking at those things.”

The slate of speakers at Friday’s dinner included Jensen and Fischbach, as well as Minnesota State Auditor candidate Ryan Wilson, Minnesota Attorney General candidate Jim Schultz, and area lawmakers Sen. Gary Dahms and Rep. Chris Swedzinski.

Issues related to crime and education were common concerns for speakers. Schultz said Minnesota needed to support public safety and law enforcement officers. He criticized Attorney General Keith Ellison for spending time on “far-left policies.”

“We have an attorney general . . .who backs defunding the police,” Schultz said. “It’s extraordinary to have that.”

Wilson said education and public safety were also priorities for him. If elected state auditor, he said he would work to answer questions the public had about where public funds were going.

“They want to know, is the money making it into classrooms so teachers can teach and kids can learn? Is it making it into police budgets, so they can hire new officers?” he said.

Speakers all encouraged voters to put the work into door-knocking, volunteering or having conversations with community members to win Republican races.

“We absolutely need to get rid of Walz,” Fischbach said. “We need to make a clean sweep of those constitutional offices.”