Navy SEAL Senate candidate says Minnesota fraud will flip the state

EXCLUSIVE: A former Navy SEAL and Marine veteran running for U.S. Senate in Minnesota sees an opening for a statewide GOP victory this election cycle, saying citizens are largely embarrassed by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s “stolen value” in handling the state’s massive fraud scandal.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Adam Schwarze, one of six candidates for the Republican Party’s Senate nomination in Minnesota, said that with the Democratic Party adopting socialist policies in the state and across the country, “the stakes can’t be higher.” Without taking on an incumbent, Schwarze said Republicans have a “20-year opportunity” to flip a seat that could determine which party controls the upper chamber.

He juxtaposed himself with Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota’s number two and current Democratic favorite for his party’s Senate nomination. Schwarze posited that Flanagan was marred by her association with Walz and the still-ongoing fraud crisis that has rocked Minnesota.

“Everyone outside of Minneapolis is angry and embarrassed that Minnesota is known internationally. [for] fraud. You can’t even go out of the country and say what your condition is because people are like, “What’s wrong with your crazy state?” “, he said, adding: “This is really going to have a big impact on the vote in November. »

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Republican Senate candidate and military veteran Adam Schwarze (left) denounces “Walz’s stolen valor” for taking credit for cracking down on rampant fraud in Minnesota, while claiming the Walz administration mishandled abuses. (Courtesy of Adam Schwarze’s campaign for U.S. Senate; Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Although he has not yet received the GOP nomination, Schwarze said that with 10 years as an infantry Marine and 11 years as a Navy SEAL officer, he would be a surefire candidate in a general election showdown with Flanagan.

“Navy SEALs are out seven to seven in the general election,” he said. “We are not missing the target.”

Meanwhile, he accused Flanagan of “openly presenting himself as a socialist.”

Flanagan, who is running a progressive, anti-Trump campaign, was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. She recently appeared alongside Sanders during one of his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour stops in Rochester, Minnesota.

At the rally, Flanagan framed the current political moment as a “fight over who owns this country, the billionaires and corporations or the rest of us.” She spent much of her time on stage denouncing the “one, big, beautiful bill” backed by President Donald Trump, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the conflict in Iran and the White House ballroom project.

Flanagan asserted, “They don’t care about you,” saying of the Trump administration, “It’s just corruption, period.” »

Schwarze said Flanagan’s rhetoric sums up the current state of the Democratic Party.

“What is the Democratic agenda nationally right now? It’s anti-Trump and pro-socialist,” he said. “Now they’re going to run an open socialist candidate for the U.S. Senate. And I don’t think that’s going to work in Minnesota.”

He asserted that “no one outside of Minneapolis will vote for socialism.”

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Minnesota GOP Senate candidate Adam Schwarze is calling on Gov. Tim Walz’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, to suspend her Senate campaign. (Courtesy of Adam Schwarze’s campaign for U.S. Senate)

But Schwarze said that while Minnesotans’ distaste for socialism will keep them from voting Democratic this year, he thinks the fraud problem will make voters look for change at the ballot box.

“Fraud is everything. That’s what’s going to get our state back for people like me who are just patriots,” he explained.

During his campaign, Schwarze said he saw up to twice as many people as normal register their support for Republicans during local caucuses in Minnesota. He said he also saw support in cities that are typically Democratic strongholds.

“Minnesotans are a really proud people. We’re farmers. We’re workers. We have businesses,” he said. “What’s everywhere and known is just the anger and embarrassment of being a Minnesotan in this time.”

Meanwhile, he tore into the Walz administration, saying, “They’re always trying to cover it up, or trying to push for a different narrative on history, to take credit for it, which is what Walz does, right?” Stolen valuation Walz, he loves to take credit, but doesn’t actually do the work.

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Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan speaks at the United Center on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, August 19, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

Schwarze said Flanagan also shared responsibility.

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“We don’t know how many billions it actually is. But there has yet to be a single person fired by the Walz administration,” he said. “And at the same time that Walz is finally being pushed aside by establishment Democrats, they are also trying to elevate Peggy Flanagan to the U.S. Senate.”

He accused Flanagan of being “out there for the $9 billion to $19 billion in fraud,” while adding, “Being in the military my whole life, you don’t fail a mission and then get promoted.”

Fox News Digital has contacted Walz and Flanagan for comment.