State Auditor Julie Blaha: I'll keep promoting government integrity, not extremist agendas

The best days in local government are when most Minnesotans take it for granted. The plows roll before the snow quits, the ambulance arrives in time, the county clinic is well-stocked and clean water flows from the tap with every turn of the handle.

Life is hectic enough without worrying about the essentials, but those everyday services only arrive because of the work of thousands of public employees and billions of dollars in local government spending. At least on Election Day, Minnesotans need to pay attention.

The state auditor's most important job is to ensure the budgets behind the vital work of townships, cities, school districts and counties are trustworthy. Local leaders can make their plans with confidence. Taxpayers can know someone is watching their money.

As Minnesota's state auditor, I oversee about $60 billion in government funds spent mostly at the local level. The auditor's staff monitors the taxpayers' money through audits and investigations. We support local leaders with training, financial tools and data analysis.

In the past four years, we've found over $4 million in fraud and assisted law enforcement in prosecuting the wrongdoers. But even better, our audits fixed over $500 million in budget errors to prevent fraud and waste.

At the Legislature, our data helped pass bipartisan legislation, including the Hometown Heroes Act, which supported firefighter access to cancer, cardiac and mental health treatment, and reforms to criminal asset forfeiture that made the process fairer to low-income Minnesotans.

As part of my work on the state's pension board, we've increased by $30 billion the investments that support the retirements of public workers like teachers, plow drivers, and first responders. At the same time, we've moved to guarantee long-term growth by considering the global transition to cleaner sources of energy in our investment decisions.

Altogether, I've worked hard to give Minnesotans more freedom over their own lives.

Unfortunately, that's not how my opponent sees the job. He has twisted the news of the day to mislead voters about the role of the state auditor's office and implied we should have done the work of the FBI, federal prosecutors and the Legislative Auditor, an entirely separate office with different responsibilities.

Ryan Wilson has brought the MAGA agenda to the auditor's race. He's on record supporting a near-total ban on abortions, which should concern any woman seeking reproductive care at a clinic that receives public funds. He's praised risky pension investments in coal and proposed a strange policy to politicize education testing data that's far outside the scope of the office.

It's a continuation of behavior that started well before this campaign. In 2020, he was an Election Day poll watcher with "Lawyers for Trump." He even bragged to the Liberty Tea Party Patriots in Champlin about getting into a high-speed pursuit of a St. Paul election judge on election night.

Minnesotans don't want that kind of extremism in the Office of State Auditor. That's the difference between us. I want to help. He wants a headline.

I'm committed to the work of local government because of the lesson I learned decades ago from my mother in Anoka County.

My mom joined the Burns Township Road and Bridge Committee with the unglamorous goal of paving the dirt roads in our neighborhood. It was hard for kids to ride their bikes. A dust cloud hung over our neighborhood all summer and the mud was ankle-deep every spring.

Because she had the right financial information, my mom was able to find the resources to improve our road and other roads in other neighborhoods. Local government will always remind me of a friend with asthma who could ride her bike with us again, or our neighbor on oxygen who could enjoy an evening on his porch.

I know there are transcendent issues facing voters — from defending equal access to the ballot, to fully funding schools, to protecting reproductive freedom — but I believe Minnesotans deserve a state auditor who is focused on the integrity of the local programs we all use every day.

Neglecting that work to push an extremist political agenda risks the essential services on which too many Minnesotans depend. If you agree, I'd be honored to have your vote.

Julie Blaha is the Minnesota state auditor.