Everything You Need To Know About Scott Jensen

Primary Election results are in, and the ballot has been set for the 2022 election. Running as the conservative candidate for governor is far-right extremist Scott Jensen, whose anti-choice and anti-public school policies are at the forefront of his plan for Minnesota. 

And Jensen’s extremism doesn’t stop there. Throughout his campaign, he has spread baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, promoted dangerous misinformation about COVID-19, and defended his running mate, Matt Birk, who compared abortion to slavery and said that rape victims shouldn’t be able to get abortions. 

With the Primary Election behind us, the general election is just around the corner. Here’s everything you need to know about Scott Jensen: 

Scott Jensen Wants to Ban Abortion in Minnesota 

Scott Jensen wants to ban abortion in Minnesota. He even previously said that he wants to ban abortion without exceptions for rape or incest.

Scott Jensen could also pass a Texas-style law that bans abortion as early as six weeks, allows strangers to collect $10,000 for reporting women who have abortions, and would put women and doctors in jail for abortions.

And now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, Scott Jensen is one step closer to banning abortion in Minnesota.

If Scott Jensen is elected governor, abortion access will be on the line for millions of women.

Scott Jensen Gets an F on Education 

Scott Jensen’s education plans don’t make the grade. If elected, Jensen plans on cutting the state income tax for the richest Minnesotans, putting our public education system at risk.

In May, when asked by MPR, “Do you support more money for public schools or less money?” Jensen replied, “Less money,” affirming his long-standing commitment to defunding public education.

Jensen has said that public schools need to “share the pain” and led the campaign against a school funding referendum to help build new schools in Waconia. It got so bad that the local school district even had to put students in warehouse space. 

Instead of investing in Minnesota students, Scott Jensen is pushing for ineffective “voucher” programs in a thinly-veiled attempt to gut our public education budget. His plan would take funding away from Minnesota’s public schools and send it to unaccountable private schools.

Jensen has been advocating for cuts to public education for his entire career. As a member of the Minnesota State Senate, Scott Jensen voted to underfund Minnesota schools. Jensen also voted to reduce access to pre-kindergarten in Minnesota’s communities while supporting millions of dollars in handouts for wealthy corporations, including tobacco companies.

 Scott Jensen’s plans to cut funding for Minnesota’s public schools means that schools might have to cut classroom programs, lay off teachers, and increase class sizes. And that’s the last thing that students and teachers need right now.

Scott Jensen is a Reckless Conspiracy Theorist 

Scott Jensen has a mile-long track record of touting baseless lies, from abusing his position as a doctor to promote dangerous misinformation about COVID-19 to spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. 

To this day, he refuses to say that Joe Biden was legitimately elected and threatened jail time for and spread conspiracies about Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon.

Scott Jensen has also been caught spreading dangerous conspiracies about COVID-19. The Minnesota state medical board has investigated Jensen five times for spreading COVID-19 conspiracy theories and giving reckless medical advice. And in June 2022, he threatened the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice with political retaliation for their investigations if he were elected governor. 

In December 2020, Kaiser Health News called Scott Jensen’s COVID-19 comments the “Lie of the Year.” In a 2020 Star Tribune story, the director of medical ethics at New York University’s school of medicine called Jensen’s COVID-19 comments problematic and politically driven.

Scott Jensen’s Running Mate is a Dangerous Extremist

Unfortunately, Jensen’s running mate, Matt Birk, is just as dangerous for Minnesota. 

In a video from June 2022 of Matt Birk speaking at a National Right to Life conference, he celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and compared safe, legal abortion to slavery. 

He also repeated his and Scott Jensen’s intentions to ban abortion in Minnesota with no exceptions for rape or incest. 

Birk also previously said that Planned Parenthood was next to the KKK as the most racist organization in America and said rape victims shouldn’t be able to get an abortion.

Scott Jensen is Wrong for Minnesota

Jensen threatens to bring extreme policies to our state that are dangerous for working families and wildly out of touch with Minnesotans’ needs. We need to hold him accountable. Sign up to help us do this work.