Chris Madel, a Republican running for governor of Minnesota, is dropping out of the race, saying the GOP can’t win and calling the federal immigration crackdown that left a second person dead in Minneapolis over the weekend “an unmitigated disaster.”
“I cannot support the national Republican stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so,” Madel said in a video posted Monday on social media.
Madel’s withdrawal adds to the bipartisan backlash over the Jan. 24 killing by a federal agent of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse whom Trump administration officials portrayed as a violent agitator despite video evidence to the contrary. It’s a dramatic shift in tone for Madel, who has providedlegal assistance to a different federal agent who fatally shot Renee Good earlier this month.
In his video, Madel said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement “has authorized its agents to raid homes using a civil warrant that need only be signed by a Border Patrol agent. That’s unconstitutional, and it’s wrong.”
He added that “weaponizing criminal investigations against political opponents is unconstitutional regardless of who is in power.”
Madel was one of several Republicans who entered the field with hopes of unseating two-term Governor Tim Walz, who ended up dropping out of the race as well. Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder, has announced he will seek the Republican nomination, and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar has filed paperwork to explore a run as well.