Walz calls on Jensen, Birk to release tax returns. They haven't done so

The latest flash point in the Minnesota governor's race is whether the GOP candidates should release their personal income tax returns, a public transparency tradition that stretches back at least a decade.

DFL Gov. Tim Walz is pushing his Republican opponent, former state Sen. Scott Jensen, and running mate Matt Birk, a former center for the Minnesota Vikings, to release their returns. Jensen and Birk have given no signal they plan to do so and have publicly panned the idea.

"Does anybody care?" Birk asked in late August at an event in Minneapolis. "You tell me what you're looking for and I can give it to you. This is another distraction. Nobody has come up to me on the street and said, 'Hey, I'm really interested in seeing your tax return.' "

Walz, 58, has been pushing his opponents to release the documents as he did in April, calling it a "good-government tradition" on the part of previous DFL and Republican gubernatorial candidates. "We've released our tax returns because we're committed to transparency, and I hope our opponents do the same," he said.

Candidates in Minnesota aren't required to release their tax returns, and state law mandates they provide only minimal information on their economic interests.

But gubernatorial candidates have historically released their personal income tax returns. The returns generally provide only a small glimpse at a candidate's overall financial picture, but they can show voters how much a candidate earned, paid in taxes and gave to charities.

The governor's campaign has issued two news releases on the topic of their opponents' returns, including one earlier last month urging Jensen and Birk to release theirs.

Walz has released his returns for more than a decade, including those from his time serving in Congress. He and his wife, Gwen, reported federally adjusted gross income of $159,696 in 2021. They reported income of nearly $200,000 in 2020, with the difference being Gwen Walz's earnings from teaching at Augsburg University in the earlier year.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and her husband, Tom Weber, reported federally adjusted gross income of $143,350 in 2021 and a similar amount the prior year.

The governor's state salary this year is $127,629; Flanagan's is $82,959.

In late August, asked about releasing his returns, Jensen said: "We have no problem doing that."

But he also said he was looking at "precedent" and didn't want to "create this expectation that anybody that chooses to run for public service has to also be ready to release their tax records."

In previous years, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton regularly released his returns as did his main Republican opponent, former Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson.

On Thursday, in response to a question about tax returns, Jensen changed the topic in a statement through his campaign, saying inflation and crime are issues that concern Minnesotans.

"We aren't interested in diluting that with a political sideshow," Jensen's campaign said before pivoting to his call for another debate with Walz.

"If Gov. Walz wants true transparency, let's have a debate," said Jensen, who has claimed that Walz is refusing to debate him.

Pressed on whether this meant Jensen had decided not to release his returns, a spokesman said: "The statement stands on its own."

Tax returns were an issue in the 2016 presidential race. Then-candidate Donald Trump said he would release his tax returns but never did. The former president continues to fight release of the documents. The New York Times, however, revealed Trump claimed chronic losses by his businesses that allowed him to avoid paying taxes in a number of years.

Democratic President Joe Biden has released his tax returns during his first two years in office, restarting a tradition that presidents release their tax filings to the public after Trump broke the pattern. Biden and his wife, Jill, earned $610,702 during their first year in the White House, according to news reports. They paid $150,439in federal income taxes.

Hamline University political science Prof. David Schultz called the tax return discussion a sideshow — much like the debate about debates. "I don't see this as even a top five issue for voters," Schultz said of the tax returns.

Walz said the returns can "shed light" on possible conflicts of interest that wouldn't appear on traditional disclosure forms, including out-of-state properties and assets.

Jensen, 67, spent his career as a family physician. Birk, 46, made millions during a long career in the NFL with the Vikings and the Baltimore Ravens. His finances and holdings are presumed to be much more expansive and complicated.

Flanagan, 42, said Republicans' refusal to release the returns "makes you wonder what they don't want the public to see."

Staff writer Ryan Faircloth contributed to this report.