Political speech, timestamped and in context

Lisa Demuth: “We had an $18 billion surplus that was spent.”

Featuring: Lisa Demuth, Republican | Former Candidate, Minnesota State Representative District 13A

Lisa Demuth, GOP Candidate For Governor, Live at the Fair with Jason

Published August 30, 2026

We don't have double the people, we don't have double the better roads. We don't have double great outcomes in our educational system. So when a state budget is doubled, We had an $18 billion surplus that was spent. All of our taxes and fees, even think Amazon or delivery fees, you know, $3 on everything. You think we were nickel and dime to the point of an additional 10 billion dol. (08:59–09:02)

STATEMENT

Asserts that Minnesota had an $18 billion surplus that was spent.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

See the main statements from Lisa Demuth in this video

“The $9 billion number came from attorney Joe Thompson when he was saying you look over 14 Medicaid programs, and most of them had fraud in the, in there to some way or some extent.”
Asserts that the $9 billion fraud figure is attributed to attorney Joe Thompson regarding Medicaid programs.04:08-04:22
“Governor Wall signed a bill that allowed 6,000 new government employees to be added to the state rolls.”
Asserts that a bill was signed allowing 6,000 new government employees to be added.07:01-07:08
“Our state budget has doubled in the last 10 years.”
Asserts that the state budget of Minnesota has doubled over the past decade.08:44-08:49
“Back in the last midterm, we had 200,000 Republicans that didn't bother to show up.”
Asserts that 200,000 Republicans did not vote in the last midterm election.11:48-11:54
“Additional people just went to jail just recently, again, on Feeding Our Future.”
Asserts that more individuals were recently jailed in connection with the Feeding Our Future fraud case.04:26-04:31
“We reduced our state spending by almost $5 billion.”
Asserts that state spending was reduced by almost $5 billion in the last legislative session.06:21-06:25
“I will replace every commissioner in every agency, looking at the deputy commissioners too, and replacing them.”
Asserts intention to replace all commissioners and deputy commissioners in every agency.07:18-07:24
“All of our taxes and fees, even think Amazon or delivery fees, you know, $3 on everything.”
Asserts that there are $3 fees on Amazon or delivery services in Minnesota.09:01-09:08
“We added paid family, medical leave, a whole new department, not reducing anything going forward.”
Asserts that a new department for paid family and medical leave was added without reducing other areas.10:04-10:11
“They made over 275,000 phone calls to encourage people to vote in the primary.”
Asserts that her grassroots team made over 275,000 phone calls to encourage voting in the primary.12:16-12:23
“The tariffs in Canada... have a direct negative effect in Minnesota.”
Asserts that tariffs on Canada negatively impact Minnesota.15:28-16:09
“Our trade with Canada is incredibly important to Minnesota.”
Asserts that trade with Canada is crucial for Minnesota's economy.15:32-15:38
“I would have allowed for... the detainer request to be honored not just in doc, but also in our counties.”
Asserts that detainer requests should be honored at both state and county levels.16:49-16:57
“State level counties did not [honor those issues].”
Asserts that counties did not honor detainer requests.17:04-17:06
“We needed better safety on our streets.”
Asserts the need for improved public safety.17:11-17:14
“In Maple Grove specifically, law enforcement came in where there was going to be some riots... made that community safe.”
Asserts that law enforcement effectively managed potential riots in Maple Grove.17:44-17:52