MN election: Why GOP fraud attacks failed

The fraud issue just didn't resonate as strongly for enough voters. And new tonight, fraud remains a big concern in Minnesota, and Republican candidates campaigned on ways to stop it. But fraud did not impact voters as much as campaign strategists had anticipated. Fox 9's Mike Manzoni joining us now. And Mike, voters certainly care about fraud, but it wasn't the only issue that mattered to them when they voted. The immigration crackdown and things like the rising cost of living also played a big role here. In the governor's race, Republicans struggled to connect state fraud to a federal lawmaker, Amy Klobuchar. And in the Senate race, other issues seem to matter more. Tim Walz should have caught the fraud earlier. We heard about it during the governor's race debates. Why weren't you at the hearings about fraud in your own Senate Judicial Committee hearing? It came up over and over. I could call the Justice Department and ask for more prosecutors. Even if she made a phone call on fraud, where was she? We heard about fraud during the Senate race too. I know that Minnesota taxpayers are angry and I am angry too. You and I are on the ballot and only one of us let $9 billion walk out the door to fraud. And don't forget the attack ads. No plans to stop the fraud in Minnesota. Peggy got rich, Minnesotans got ripped off. It was the issue that they thought was gonna help them. But at the end of the day, again, it just was not. Powerful. Fox 9 political analyst David Schultz says on election day though, other things mattered more, and that didn't bode well for the GOP. There was clearly the fraud in Minnesota. But at the same time, polls were indicating that people were increasingly concerned about fraud, graft, and corruption at the national level too. The anger about the Trump administration, whether it's about metro surge, whether it's just about the trust Trump administrations, how it added to sort of the affordability problems, I think was just so overwhelming. Schultz says it was challenging for Lisa Demuth to connect Amy Klobuchar with state fraud. And he says President Trump's endorsement of Michelle Tafoya probably did not help her in Minnesota.