2026-10-19T14:29:19-04:00 / 福克斯新闻
共和党初选获胜者就与蒂姆·瓦尔兹 pandemic时期福利项目相关的浪费和欺诈问题向 Klobuchar 发难
作者：保罗·斯坦豪瑟、安德鲁·马克·米勒 福克斯新闻
发布于 2026年10月19日 美国东部时间下午2:29
蒂姆·瓦尔兹表示他选择为明尼苏达州欺诈案的处理方式“承担责任”
明尼苏达州州长蒂姆·瓦尔兹对该州欺诈丑闻的处理方式，以及这一丑闻如何助长了共和党人的气焰表示遗憾。
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民主党参议员艾米·克洛布查尔与共和党州众议院议长丽莎·德穆思就明尼苏达州大规模欺诈丑闻展开激烈交锋，这是他们在竞选接替深陷困境的州长蒂姆·瓦尔兹的首场辩论中首次正面交锋。
此次竞选背景是该州的福利援助欺诈丑闻，这一丑闻近一年来已引起全国关注，并促使两届民主党州长瓦尔兹放弃了2026年的连任竞选。涉及疫情时期社会服务的欺诈计划从明尼苏达州的联邦和州项目中窃取了数亿乃至可能数十亿纳税人的资金。
德穆思立志成为20年来首位在这个倾向民主党的中西部州赢得州长选举的共和党人。民调显示，克洛布查尔以微弱优势领先德穆思，福克斯新闻权力排名将这场竞选评为“大概率民主党获胜”。
德穆思在辩论上半场多次将话题引向欺诈丑闻。
欺诈专家揭露隐藏网络如何推动明尼苏达州欺诈案
丽莎·德穆思与艾米·克洛布查尔于10月19日展开首场辩论。(路透社/蒂姆·埃文斯；丹尼尔·霍伊尔/彭博社通过盖蒂图片社拍摄)
“我们任由浪费和欺诈的文化持续太久了，我们不能再这样下去了，”她说，同时试图将克洛布查尔与已为该丑闻承担全部责任的瓦尔兹联系起来。
“克洛布查尔，谈到瓦尔兹时，她说：‘我一直说得很清楚。我本可以识破那场欺诈。我本可以采取行动应对。我们的背景截然不同。’”
德穆思质问她的对手：“你本可以联系州长，说我认为明尼苏达州存在问题……你当初为何不采取更多行动。”
德穆思还问道：“当明尼苏达州民众对欺诈表示担忧时，你为何没有参加你所在参议院司法委员会关于欺诈的听证会？”
前NFL场边记者让共和党人在明尼苏达州参议院席位竞争中占据先机
州长蒂姆·瓦尔兹于2026年6月16日在奥地利维也纳霍夫堡宫举行的第十届奥地利世界气候峰会期间发言。(安纳多卢通讯社通过盖蒂图片社拍摄)
克洛布查尔反驳称，“欺诈丑闻曝光后，我立即采取了切实行动……我致电司法部，要求增加资源。”这位参议员称她的行动促使更多联邦检察官被指派调查欺诈丑闻。“这才是在做实事，”她强调道。
针对德穆思所称她缺席听证会的说法（福克斯新闻数字频道今年早些时候曾对此进行报道），克洛布查尔表示：“我参加了十多场听证会，在会上提出或询问了关于欺诈的问题。这里提到的那场听证会是一个小组委员会，我甚至都不是该委员会的成员。”
德穆思还承诺，在欺诈丑闻发生后，将解雇“明尼苏达州所有专员”，以开启“全新局面”。
两位候选人还就医疗保健问题展开争论，德穆思指出克洛布查尔支持《奥巴马医改》，这与该州不断上涨的医疗成本有关。
“我们必须认识到，由于《平价医疗法案》，全国乃至明尼苏达州的医疗成本都暴涨了，”德穆思说。“这位参议员曾说，该法案将降低我们的医疗成本，我们可以获得所需的一切服务，而且价格会更实惠。但在我们今天所处的形势下，这完全是不实之词。”
这场被宣传为由明尼苏达州商会主办的商业论坛上，两位候选人还就高油价、医疗保健、带薪家庭和医疗假以及限制胰岛素价格的举措互相抨击。
在州税问题上，两人似乎达成了共识。
“对我来说，绝对不会考虑加税，”德穆思强调。
克洛布查尔说：“我已经明确表示，我不会加税。”她还称赞道：“过去我曾愿意在税收问题上与本党对抗。”
克洛布查尔于今年1月启动州长竞选，三周前，作为民主党2024年副总统候选人的瓦尔兹放弃了连任竞选。
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明尼苏达州议会大厦的阳光 2024年2月12日周一摄于圣保罗，这是明尼苏达州议会2024年会期的开幕日。在具有里程碑意义的2023年议会会期后，议员们的议程相对温和，当时民主党人利用新获得的州议会完全控制权，通过了一系列雄心勃勃的优先事项。(史蒂夫·卡诺夫斯基/美联社)
克洛布查尔于2006年首次当选参议员，四次参议院选举均以较大优势获胜，包括2024年连任时以近16个百分点的优势胜出。在进入参议院之前，克洛布查尔曾两次当选明尼苏达州人口最多的亨内平县的县检察官。她还曾在2020年竞选民主党总统候选人提名，但未成功。
今年8月，克洛布查尔在民主党初选中击败众多实力较弱的对手，获得了近90%的选票。
德穆思于2018年首次当选明尼苏达州众议员，自2023年初以来一直担任该州众议院共和党领袖，过去一年半担任议长。
在共和党州长初选中，德穆思在竞争激烈的 field 中胜出，以11个百分点的优势击败第二名得主迈克·林德尔，林德尔是My Pillow创始人兼前首席执行官，是唐纳德·特朗普总统的亲密盟友，曾与特朗普一起否认前总统乔·拜登在2020年白宫选举中的胜利。特朗普在8月11日初选前一个月 endorsed 了林德尔。
保罗·斯坦豪瑟为福克斯新闻报道遍及全美各地的全国竞选活动
Walz-era fraud scandal takes center stage as Klobuchar, GOP rival clash in debate: ‘Why didn’t you do more?’
2026-10-19T14:29:19-04:00 / Fox News
The GOP primary winner pressed Klobuchar on waste and fraud tied to Tim Walz’s pandemic-era welfare programs
By Paul Steinhauser, Andrew Mark Miller Fox News
Published October 19, 2026 2:29pm EDT
Tim Walz says he chooses to ‘accept responsibility’ for how Minnesota fraud was handled
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz lamented both how the fraud scandal in his state was handled and how it has emboldened Republicans.
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Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth traded fire over Minnesota’s massive fraud scandal as they faced off for the first time on the debate stage in the race to replace embattled Gov. Tim Walz.
The race is unfolding against the backdrop of the state’s welfare assistance fraud scandal, which has attracted national attention for nearly a year and prompted Walz, a two-term Democrat, to abandon his 2026 re-election bid.The fraud schemes, involving pandemic-era social services, siphoned hundreds of millions, and potentially billions, of taxpayer dollars from federal and state programs in Minnesota.
Demuth is aiming to become the first Republican in twenty years to win a gubernatorial election in the blue-leaning Midwestern state. Polls indicate Klobuchar holding an upper single digit lead over Demuth, and the Fox News Power Rankings rate the race Likely Democrat.
Demuth, during the first half of the debate, repeatedly steered the conversation to the fraud scandal.
FRAUD EXPERT EXPOSES HOW HIDDEN NETWORKS DROVE MINNESOTA FRAUD
Lisa Demuth and Amy Klobuchar faced off in their first debate on Oct. 19.(REUTERS/Tim Evans ; Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We have allowed a culture of waste and fraud to go on far too long and we can’t keep going this way,” she said, as she worked to link Klobuchar to Walz, who has taken full responsibility for the scandal.
“Klobuchar, referring to Walz, said, “I have been very clear. I would have caught that fraud. I would have done something about it. We have very different backgrounds.”
Demuth asked her rival, “You could have reached out to the governor and said I think we have a problem in Minnesota… Why didn’t you do more.”
And Demuth asked, “Why weren’t you at the hearings about fraud in your own Senate Judicial Committee hearing when we had Minnesotans who were concerned about fraud.”
FORMER NFL SIDELINE REPORTER PUTS MINNESOTA’S SENATE SEAT IN PLAY FOR REPUBLICANS
Gov. Tim Walz speaks during the 10th Austrian World Summit climate conference at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, on June 16, 2026.(Anadolu via Getty Images)
Klobuchar, pushing back, highlighted that “the minute that the fraud went public, I did something that was real….. I called the justice department and asked for more resources. The senator said her actions led to more federal prosecutors assigned to investigate the fraud scandal. “That’s doing the real work,” she emphasized.
Responding to Demuth’s claims of missing hearings, which Fox News Digital reported on earlier this year, Klobuchar said, “I’ve been at a dozen hearings where I’ve raised or asked questions about fraud. The particular hearing that was raised here was a subcommittee that I was not even on.”
Demuth also pledged to fire “all of the commissioners in the state of Minnesota” in order to start “fresh” after the fraud scandal.
The two candidates also sparred over healthcare, with Demuth pointing to Klobuchar’s support of ObamaCare as being tied to the rising healthcare costs in the state.
“We must recognize that our healthcare costs have exploded across the country and in Minnesota because of the Affordable Care Act,” Demuth said. “The senator said that it would bring the cost of our healthcare down, we could access whatever we needed and it would be more affordable. That is absolutely untrue where we find ourselves today.”
The two candidates, in what was billed as a business forum hosted by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, also took aim at each other over high gas prices, healthcare, paid family and medical leave, and efforts to cap insulin costs.
On state taxes, both seemed in agreement.
“Tax hikes are absolutely off the table for me,” Demuth emphasized.
Klobuchar said, “I’ve made clear I’m not going to increase taxes.” And she touted, “I’ve been willing to take on my own party on taxes in the past.”
Klobuchar launched her gubernatorial campaign in January, three weeks after Walz, who served as the Democrats’ 2024 vice presidential nominee, dropped his re-election bid.
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The sun shines on the Minnesota State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, in St. Paul, on the opening day of the 2024 session of the Minnesota Legislature. Lawmakers have a relatively modest agenda ahead after a momentous 2023 session that saw Democrats use their newfound full control of the statehouse to enact an ambitious list of their priorities.(Steve Karnowski/Associated Press)
Klobuchar, who was first elected to the Senate in 2006, won all four of her Senate elections by healthy margins, including a nearly 16-point re-election in 2024. Before serving in the Senate, Klobuchar was elected twice as county attorney in Hennepin County, Minnesota’s most populous.She also ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
She captured nearly 90% of the vote in the August Democratic primary against a large field of longshot rivals.
Demuth, who was first elected to the Minnesota House in 2018, has served as GOP leader in the chamber since the start of 2023 and as speaker for the past year and a half,
In the GOP gubernatorial primary, Demuth topped a crowded field, defeated by 11-points second place finisher Mike Lindell, the My Pillow founder and former CEO who is a close ally of President Donald Trump and who joined the president in denying former President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 White House race. Trump endorsed Lindell a month before the August 11 primary.
Paul Steinhauser covers the national campaign trail from coast to coast for Fox News
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