Another Republican has thrown their hat in the ring for the 2022 Minnesota gubernatorial elections. Dr. Neil Shah’s campaign site says that he is a “husband, father, physician, business owner and son of immigrants.” In an email announcing his candidacy, he said that, “it’s time to remove the cancers of unilateral emergency powers and radical leftism.”
Shah takes a conservative approach when it comes to COVID, calling the politicization of the virus “political science” and stating government bureaucrats have “destroyed science.” Shah called on voters to “bring science and common sense back to our response to COVID.”
He also is strongly pro-life, holding a position that life begins at fertilization or conception. Shah also emphasized his position on policing, stating that he is pro-police and will work to correct the “colossal failure” of current Minnesota crime statistics. He stated that like every other profession, “law enforcement can and must evolve and improve,” but the “essential role of law enforcement” is “not debatable.”
Shah also committed to championing school choice, saying that the public school system “has failed.” He berated those who are pushing Critical Race Theory in schools, posing a few questions to those who say that America is systemically racist.
He wrote, “How could my parents, clearly brown and clearly different, have succeeded in a systemically racist country? How could a systemically racist country have elected a black president – twice? How can black immigrants from Nigeria outperform whites by a large margin if our country has systems to keep blacks from succeeding?”
Shah also voiced his support for expanding gun rights in Minnesota, saying that he opposes “common-sense gun laws.” He also pledged to support Line 3, which has come under attack by environmentalists, saying that Minnesotans depend on fossil fuels.
He said he wants to do away with state income taxes and wants to “shrink the size and scope of government” in order to “unleash the Minnesota economy.”
Shah also signed on pledging his support for Representative Erik Mortensen’s “Never Again” bill, which says that he will pass the “Unilateral Emergency Powers Repeal Act.” Shah and two other Republican gubernatorial candidates have signed the “Never Again Pledge.” As reported by The Minnesota Sun, Mortensen said that his bill “removes the Governor’s ability to unilaterally declare an emergency and shifts the declaration powers to the legislature. And [the] bill requires a 2/3 vote of both legislative bodies to declare and extend an emergency; making sure no future emergencies can be politicized like COVID has been.”
Shah joins three other gubernatorial candidates, Mike Marti, Mike Murphy, and Dr. Scott Jensen. Shah did not immediately reply to The Sun’s request for comment regarding his campaign.
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Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun | Star News Network. She graduated with a degree in Communications from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. Send news tips to [email protected].
Photos “Minnesota State Capitol” by Ken Lund (CC BY-SA 2.0) and “Dr. Neil Shah” by Neil Shah for Governor.
