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Kobey Layne marching with supporters, holding a Kobey Layne for Governor sign

Kobey Layne for Governor of Minnesota

I'm a working Minnesotan, and I'm done with empty promises. I'm running to make Minnesota affordable, accountable, and free. On this site you'll see exactly what I'll do, and how you can check my work.

The ticket

Who is Kobey Layne — and who's Paul Ference running with her?

I grew up in Walker, a small town up north, and I'm a working person like you. I know rent climbs faster than your paycheck, and groceries cost more every month. Years back, the city tried to cut off the farmers market where I worked. So my neighbors and I organized, fought back, and won. That fight taught me something I've never forgotten: when regular people stand together, they win. I'm not going to promise you the moon. I'll write down exactly what I'll do in my first 100 days, and you can check it yourself. Now I'm running for governor on a promise you can check — with my running mate, Paul.

Why I'm running- My State Convention Speech

Affordable

First, lower what you pay. More homes. Rent that stops outrunning paychecks. Lower medicine and medical costs. Rural hospitals that stay open. Utility regulators who answer to you instead of automatically profiting the corporations. Your monthly budget is the report card.

Accountable

Second: Clean government- make this office answer to you. A Day One ethics order, a ban on insider stock trading, public conflicts of interest statements, protected whistleblowers, and a public dashboard with names, backlogs, and deadlines are visible to everyone.

Free

Third, protect your land, water, and freedom. Protecting the Boundary Waters. Cleaning drinking water by beginning work clearing out nitrates from rural farm wells because no family should fear the water from their own tap. Protecting the Right to Choose- without the government interfering between you and your doctor. Welcoming and protecting our new LGBTQ+ neighbors. Being good neighbors with our Immigrant communities.

The plan

First 100 Days

Not a vision statement — a specific, numbered list of things I will do in the first hundred days as governor. Dates, deadlines, and deliverables. Check my work.

Why Now? Because Minnesota is being tested.

Families are paying more for rent, groceries, child care, and health care. Rural towns are fighting to keep hospitals, ambulances, and nursing homes open. Farm families test their wells because clean water is not promised. People wait too long for help from systems built to serve them.

At the same time, Washington has become dangerous to the people Minnesota is supposed to protect. Operation Metro Surge brought a show of force into our communities. Workers missed paychecks. Families missed appointments. Parents were afraid to leave home. That is not safety. That is fear and harm. And it is not over. The Trump administration is putting billions more behind immigration enforcement, and federal fights over Medicaid and SNAP show that food and health care can be threatened too. We need a governor who draws a clear line: Minnesota's hands do Minnesota's work.

And to instill trust in our government to lower costs and protect our neighbors- we have to push for a clean government. Fraud is real. But the answer is not cruelty, and not punishing poor families or immigrants. The answer is clean government with real enforcement, accountability without scapegoating, and a fraud watchdog pointed up at the providers and powerful who steal wages, double bill hours, and rig contracts.

We're running to be part of the answer. Our ticket leads with three fights:

Affordable. Accountable. Free. Check our work.

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Be the change to help MN be more affordable, accountable, and free.

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