Former Minnesota Vikings center Matt Birk will be Scott Jensen's running mate in his bid to unseat DFL Gov. Tim Walz in November.
Jensen, a Republican, announced his lieutenant governor pick at a Tuesday rally in Eagan.
"We need to take back the field, but we can't do it alone," Jensen said in a football-themed video announcement Tuesday evening. "We need a teammate who isn't afraid to hit back."
Jensen is the first in a large GOP field of gubernatorial hopefuls to announce a running mate.
In a statement, Minnesota DFL Party Chair Ken Martin said Jensen's choice is a sign his campaign is "doubling down on far-right extremism."
"Matt Birk has campaigned to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota, supports outlawing abortion, and is a vehement anti-vaxxer," Martin said. "The Jensen-Birk ticket's far-right extremism is out of touch with Minnesota's values, and the contrast with Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. [Peggy] Flanagan couldn't be clearer."
Birk, 45, is a graduate of St. Paul's Cretin-Derham Hall High School and Harvard University. The father of eight co-founded Unity High School, a Catholic school in Burnsville, and works as a professional speaker. Along with his wife, Adrianna, Birk joined the Jensen campaign as co-chair last year.
Birk spent a decade with the Vikings before joining the Baltimore Ravens in 2009. In 2012, his last year with the NFL, he supported a proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage in Minnesota. He also appeared in a Maryland Marriage Alliance video urging voters to oppose a referendum to allow same-sex couples in that state to marry.
