NORTH OAKS, Minn. – Ramsey County District 1 Commissioner Blake Huffman announced in an email to supporters Tuesday evening that he will seek the Republican nomination for governor of Minnesota.
Huffman was first elected to the Ramsey County Board in 2012, and served as a Shoreview city council member for sixteen years. In non-governmental roles he has served as a bank executive with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, and currently runs Journey Home Minnesota. The non-profit organization works to provide housing to veterans and survivors of domestic violence.
The issues section of Huffman’s campaign site heavily emphasizes job creation and economic development.
“Minnesota must maintain and grow the economic opportunities within the state in order to creating and retaining quality jobs to create a stronger economy and tax base for the State of Minnesota,” reads the issues statement. “Huffman’s economic plan provides market driven solutions to address key wage differences for many Minnesotans.”
Other key issues for Huffman are education and housing. On the latter issue he emphasizes his experience in the field from his time with Wells Fargo, as well as with Journey Home Minnesota.
“Without a safe house, without a place to call home every night, whether it’s something you own or something you rent, everything else doesn’t really matter much,” Huffman says in a video.
Huffman is the first Republican with prior experience serving in an elected office to throw his hat into Minnesota’s 2018 race for governor. The DFL side is flush with candidates including St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and State Auditor Rebecca Otto.
Currently he also serves on the board of directors for Elim Preschool, The Dwelling Place – a Christian charity providing support to victims of domestic abuse, and the local chapter of the Community Action Partnership which aims to fight poverty. His job creation efforts won him Finance and Commerce Magazine’s 2017 Progress Minnesota Award.
