Republican Scott Jensen’s public safety plan mirrors much of what GOP state senators proposed last session. (Glen Stubbe, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen on Thursday zeroed in on crime in his latest pitch to challenge DFL Gov. Tim Walz in November.

Jensen, who won the GOP endorsement in May, seized on an issue that dominated the 2022 Legislature and has hovered over the race for governor since he declared his candidacy. His plan mirrors much of what Republican state senators had proposed during the recently completed session, which ended without passage of a public safety spending package.

"I have one simple question for Minnesotans, especially those in the metropolitan area: 'Do you feel safer than you did four years ago?' " Jensen said. "Tim Walz has had his chance and his soft-on-crime, 'do-nothing' policies obviously call for new leadership in our state so we can feel safe again."

Minnesota DFL Party Chair Ken Martin criticized Jensen's plan as offering no new funding for law enforcement. Martin also bashed Jensen's past statements urging Senate Republicans to walk away from a budget deal during this year's session.

"After seeing how hard he has been trying to sink a bipartisan budget deal that would provide $450 million for public safety, it's unsurprising that funding local police departments isn't a priority for Scott Jensen," Martin said.

Walz proposed $300 million for local governments and tribes to address public safety needs. His proposed budget also targeted community groups to help local law enforcement work on crime prevention.

Jensen wants to designate carjacking as a state crime. A growing problem, carjacking is already subject to a big federal push from Minnesota's new U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger. Such cases are often charged in state courts as robbery or assault, but under Jensen's proposal, state carjacking convictions would carry minimum sentences of two to six years.

He said that as governor he would use executive powers to deploy the State Patrol in high-crime areas. And citing the state's response to the 2020 rioting that followed George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis, Jensen vowed to deploy the National Guard "immediately upon need and activate preemptively if needed upon intelligence information."

Like the Senate GOP's priorities, he is pitching enhanced penalties for repeat, violent criminals. And given that the governor appoints judges, Jensen said he would require judicial candidates to commit to certain bail and sentencing philosophies in violent crime cases.

His other proposals include creating a division within the Department of Public Safety that would focus on protecting children from sexual exploitation and trafficking.