When a terror plot was disrupted at the Mall of America, Wisconsinites grimly whispered a refrain: “Don’t Minnesota my Wisconsin.” When Somali gang violence led to shootings at a suburban high school football game, Wisconsinites thought “Don’t Minnesota my Wisconsin.”
This is not a glib statement. It’s a warning about public safety and what happens when state leadership, under democrats Governor Tim Walz, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, and Attorney General Keith Ellison, fail to prioritize it.
Minnesota’s public safety crisis didn’t appear out of nowhere. Gang violence and terror plots are symptoms of a broader governance failure: a state that has lost control of its fundamentals. The recent incidents are merely the most visible expressions of a deeper malaise.
Minnesota has among the highest state income tax rates in the nation, and combined with local taxes, residents pay some of the country’s steepest tax burdens. In return, what are they getting? A public safety system that has failed them. Schools where students fear violence. Communities where criminal networks operate with apparent impunity.
Meanwhile, while gang violence and terror plots are happening, Minnesota’s government has been consumed by waste and fraud. Incompetent administration of unemployment insurance systems, botched pandemic spending programs, and departmental malfeasance have drained resources that should have gone to helping people or lowering taxes. Billions have vanished into bureaucratic dysfunction. When government can’t execute basic competence, it’s a sign that leadership has lost focus on what matters most: protecting citizens.
When we say “don’t Minnesota our Wisconsin,” this is what we’re referring to. We want a government that prioritizes public safety, is accountable for our hard-earned tax dollars, and does the core functions well.
The argument from the political left has long been that higher taxes supposedly buy you something: better services, safer communities, more functional government. Minnesota’s taxpayers have been told that their heavy burden is necessary, that it funds excellence. But recent events expose the lie. You can’t spend your way to safety if leadership doesn’t prioritize public safety and turns a blind eye to fraud.
The real question isn’t why Minnesota has struggled. It’s why state leaders have tolerated the combination of high taxes, chronic government waste, and deteriorating public safety. That trifecta doesn’t happen by accident; it is a choice by elected officials.
Wisconsin isn’t perfect, but it certainly isn’t Minnesota. Minnesota broke its compact with residents. It demanded high taxes for the promise of better governance and safer communities, then failed to deliver.
“Don’t Minnesota my Wisconsin” is shorthand for a deeper plea: Don’t let government priorities become untethered from taxpayer expectations. Don’t accept higher taxes without demanding accountability. Don’t allow fraud and waste to run rampant. Don’t hollow out public safety. And perhaps most importantly, don’t pretend that leadership incompetence and decline is inevitable.
The recent violence and terror plot are wake-up calls. Don’t let your state follow in the footsteps of the failures of Tim Walz, Peggy Flanagan, and Keith Ellison. Don’t Minnesota my Wisconsin.
