{"id":431498,"date":"2026-01-26T21:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T21:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/431498\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T21:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T21:30:12","slug":"minnesota-gop-gubernatorial-candidate-chris-madel-drops-out-after-alex-pretti-killing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/431498\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel drops out after Alex Pretti killing"},"content":{"rendered":"

MADISON, Wis. (AP) \u2014 A lawyer<\/a> for the immigration officer who shot and killed Renee Good<\/a> dropped out of the Minnesota governor race Monday, breaking with many fellow Republicans and calling President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration operation in the state an \u201cunmitigated disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Madel\u2019s surprise move comes amid growing calls<\/a> from Republicans to investigate federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent<\/a> fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis<\/a> on Saturday. <\/p>\n

Madel went a step further than most Republicans in his video, saying that while he supports the goal of deporting \u201cthe worst of the worst\u201d from Minnesota, he thinks the Trump administration\u2019s immigration enforcement operation<\/a> in the Twin Cities has gone too far.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot support the national Republicans\u2019 stated retribution on the citizens of our state,\u201d Madel said. \u201cNor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madel said that U.S. citizens, \u201cparticularly those of color, live in fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnited States citizens are carrying papers to prove their citizenship,\u201d Madel said. \u201cThat\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madel said he personally had heard from local Asian and Hispanic law enforcement officers who had been pulled over by ICE. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have read about and I have spoken to help countless United States citizens who have been detained in Minnesota due to the color of their skin,\u201d Madel said.<\/p>\n

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He also said it was unconstitutional and wrong for federal officers to \u201craid homes\u201d using a civil warrant<\/a>, rather than one issued by a judge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Madel was among a large group of candidates seeking to replace<\/a> Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who dropped his reelection bid earlier this month. Other Republican candidates include MyPillow founder and chief executive Mike Lindell<\/a>, an election denier who is close to Trump; Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth<\/a>; Dr. Scott Jensen<\/a>, a former state senator who was the party\u2019s 2022 gubernatorial candidate; and state Rep. Kristin Robbins.<\/p>\n

Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar has filed paperwork to run, but has yet to publicly launch a campaign to succeed Walz.<\/p>\n

Madel, in his Monday video posted on the social platform X, described himself as a \u201cpragmatist,\u201d and said national Republicans \u201chave made it nearly impossible for a Republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madel did not immediately return a text message seeking comment.<\/p>\n

Madel, 59, was a political newcomer<\/a> making his first run for public office. He got into the race on Dec. 1.<\/p>\n

Madel brought 30 years of experience as an attorney to the race, including cases taking on corporate corruption. Madel also defended law enforcement officers, including the 2024 case of a Minnesota state trooper who fatally shot a Black man after a traffic stop. Prosecutors dropped charges against Trooper Ryan Londregan in the killing of Ricky Cobb II, saying the case would have been difficult to prove.<\/p>\n

Madel often referenced that victory in his brief campaign for governor, including in his video dropping out.<\/p>\n

Republicans were expecting the race for governor to be focused on Walz, who at the time was seeking a third term amid questions about how his administration handled welfare fraud<\/a>. But the race shifted dramatically on Jan. 5 when Walz dropped out.<\/p>\n

That same week, the Trump administration sent thousands of federal officers to Minnesota. ICE agent Jonathan Ross<\/a> shot and killed Good in Minneapolis two days later on Jan. 7. <\/p>\n

Madel agreed to offer pro bono legal advice to Ross, although no criminal charges or civil lawsuits have been filed. Madel said he was honored to help Ross, particularly during a gubernatorial campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustice requires excellent legal representation,\u201d Madel said.<\/p>\n

Madel announced his decision ending his candidacy two days after a Border Patrol officer shot and killed<\/a> Pretti on Saturday in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MADISON, Wis. (AP) \u2014 A lawyer for the immigration officer who shot and killed Renee Good dropped out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[203372,23,22149,196365,12,1070,793,962,694,790,36393,204665,20548,71441,16950,6429,196794,6661,3,111,191965,204662,204664,204663,200479,8631,6148,795,3438,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-431498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-alex-pretti","tag-america","tag-border-security","tag-chris-madel","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-general-news","tag-government-policy","tag-homicide","tag-immigration","tag-jonathan-ross","tag-kristin-robbins","tag-lisa-demuth","tag-mike-lindell","tag-minneapolis","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-ice-crackdown","tag-mn-state-wire","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-renee-good","tag-ricky-cobb-ii","tag-ryan-londregan","tag-scott-jensen","tag-send-to-apple-news","tag-tim-walz","tag-u-s-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","tag-u-s-news","tag-u-s-republican-party","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}