Minnesota GOP Senate hopefuls tip-toe around Trump's election claims

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s leading Republican candidates for U.S. Senate support the “SAVE America Act” — President Donald Trump’s signature attempt to put new regulations on voting — and all three have said passing the legislation would be among their top priorities if elected.

But the trio of Republicans — former NFL sideline broadcaster Michele Tafoya, ex-Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze and former NBA player Royce White — differ on how far they are willing to go to pass the bill, making it one of the few significant policy divides between the GOP rivals.

The legislation, inspired in part by the president’s false claims of a rigged 2020 presidential election, has stalled in the Senate, leaving Republicans divided over whether to end the 60-vote requirement to advance the bill.

Trump’s intensifying demands to end the filibuster to get the act through the Senate could serve as a litmus test for loyalty to Trump and his agenda ahead of the Aug. 11 primary.

So far, however, it’s also revealing the limits of Trump’s influence in Minnesota, even among GOP hopefuls who have been careful not to break with the president while appealing to primary voters who largely stand by him.

The Trump-backed elections bill has changed some over time, but it requires Americans show documentary proof of citizenship to register and photo identification to vote in federal elections.

Minnesota requires people to attest they are a U.S. citizen to vote, and state law makes it illegal for noncitizens to cast a ballot. But there are ways to register and vote without showing proof of citizenship or ID like a driver’s license.

Thirty-six states require some form of ID for in-person voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, some stricter than others. Minnesota is not among them. The state voted down a constitutional amendment to require photo ID to vote in 2012.

Minnesota’s Secretary of State Steve Simon, a three-term Democrat, has argued the SAVE Act would shut out millions of eligible American voters and make changes to state-run election systems without enough time or money to implement them.

In a February statement, Simon said the legislation would “effectively end online voter registration and drastically reduce the availability of mail-in voting.”

“Millions of Americans would need to spend time and money to attempt to track down the appropriate forms of identification and then bring them to their local election office to meet the new requirements put in place by this legislation,” Simon said.

Many Republicans, meanwhile, have lined up behind the SAVE Act.

“I believe in voter ID, and I believe that only American citizens should be voting in our elections,” Tafoya told a crowd of Republicans in Lakeville earlier this year, calling voting “one of the most sacred things we get to do.”

A recent KSTP/Survey USA poll found 55% of Minnesota voters believe elections in the state are secure. At the same time, 57% of poll respondents said they support the SAVE Act.

The Republican-controlled House has passed versions of the SAVE Act but the legislation has stalled in the Senate.

Republicans do not have the 60 votes required to bypass the filibuster because Democrats are opposed to the measure. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly said the GOP also does not have the votes to end the filibuster altogether, despite Trump demanding again Monday to eliminate the procedural barrier.

In Minnesota, only one major candidate has called for ending the filibuster: White.

White, who lost a U.S. Senate race to Amy Klobuchar in 2024 and is known for caustic and offensive rhetoric, has posted on social media “NUKE THE FILIBUSTER.” At events he has called Thune a “traitor.”

Tafoya, meanwhile, was more cautious when asked by potential primary voters in Lakeville about the SAVE Act’s path forward.

Tafoya said in March she believed there were some closed-door machinations that could lead to a vote. She acknowledged a lot of people “just wish they’d blow up the filibuster.”

“I’m not there yet,” she said.

Schwarze, who was endorsed by the Minnesota Republican Party, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the SAVE Act would be his top legislative priority. He said he has fought for democracy around the world as a Marine and Navy SEAL.

Recently, he has also promoted a personal story as inspiration for his SAVE Act support.

Minnesota voter records show Schwarze cast an in-person ballot in 2012, but he said he was in California training for the Navy SEALs and could not have been in the state at the time. He provided the Minnesota Star Tribune with military orders to arrive in June 2012 for what is typically a six-month training program.

“I have absolutely no faith and trust in elections,” Schwarze said, alleging someone illegally voted using his name.

Cassondra Knudson, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State, said it is not possible to verify Schwarze’s allegations because the records are too old and outside of a 22-month federal retention requirement.

Knudson said in 2012, it was standard practice for polling places to use paper check-in sheets for voters and that in “rare instances” some people signed the wrong line or election officials mistakenly entered voter history.

“These rare instances of human error were dramatically reduced by the widespread adoption of e-poll books starting in the 2014 election,” Knudson said.

Schwarze said he’s not committed to blowing up the filibuster because he wants to use it to stop “terrible spending” Democrats will propose in the Senate if and when they eventually get a majority.

Still, he said he supports a plan for an up-or-down vote by requiring opponents to physically hold the Senate floor to block legislation, something referred to as a “talking filibuster.” Thune has said a talking filibuster would open the door for Democrats to amend the legislation and cause other headaches for the GOP.

Tafoya also supports adopting the talking filibuster to force a vote.

“Senate Republicans should force the Democrats’ obstruction into the light of day,” she said in a statement. “Make them hold the floor and explain to the American people why they’re against basic election protections like requiring proof of citizenship for voting.”

That has not stopped Schwarze from criticizing Tafoya over the issue, saying she is backed by Senate Republican leaders who have failed to pass the SAVE Act.

Even if the filibuster were abandoned, the bill might not pass. Senate Republicans may not have simple majority support for the SAVE Act right now. The vote of an additional Republican senator could help, though, if a GOP candidate wins Minnesota.

The GOP has long supported voter ID requirements, even before Trump was first elected, arguing they safeguard elections from noncitizens voting, though state audits and other research have found voting by noncitizens is rare.

But Trump’s push for the SAVE Act is also inextricably linked with his debunked claims of a rigged 2020 election. On that issue, the Minnesota Senate candidates are also divided.

White has openly called for Trump to serve an unconstitutional third term in office, and has said Trump was cheated out of victory in 2020.

Asked if Trump won in 2020, Schwarze said, “I don’t know.”

Schwarze said until recently he probably would have said “not likely,” but that new stories of election problems and his own experience in Minnesota have raised new doubts.

“Is it likely that one or more than one state frauded the elections for the Democrats, probably more than likely yes, but it was like seven states that would have had to have been fraudulently flipped and I think the chances of that were very unlikely,” Schwarze said. “Now I just don’t know.”

Tafoya’s campaign did not respond to a question about the 2020 election. But in 2022, Tafoya urged Trump not to run again in an open letter she has since made private, saying Trump was “defeated by Joe Biden in 2020.”

She also said on television at the time that some Trump-backed candidates “really struggled, and some of that had to do with the election-denialism.” Asked again in June on WCCO radio whether Biden won, Tafoya said: “That’s what the results told us, that Biden won and Biden was the president.”