LINO LAKES, Minn. — State Representative Elliott Engen has come forward as having agreed to be on Peggy Bennett’s gubernatorial ticket as her lieutenant governor. It was unclear when Bennett and Engen agreed to be team mates. Neither one ever announced the partnership. It is clear, now however, that their communication has been sporadic to say the least. It was in a text Tuesday that Engen notified Bennett that he was reneging. Engen had been a rising star in Minnesota Republican politics until March when he was arrested for driving drunk after skipping a House committee meeting. With Engen in the car was drinking buddy Walter Hudson, a fellow legislator, who was carrying a gun. Since then: Engen, age 27, has been under a House ethics investigation.
She said-he said
Questions linger about the now-aborted Bennett-Engen ticket to head Minnesota’s state government as governor and lieutenant governor. Both acknowledged the partnership Tuesday but neither explained why they never made it public earlier. Bennett claimed that Engen told her that he was considering a career move out of state. In his public statement. he made no such mention Oddly: About the same time Engen texted Bennett on Tuesday that he was bowing out, he was filing candidacy documents for re-election to his House District 36A seat.
Engen. In second term from House District 36A. Earlier in the year he campaigned for state auditor but withdrew. Politically a right-winger in the spirit of the late provocateur-orator Charlie Kirk.
Electoral history
> 2022: Engen defeated Susie Strom, a Democrat, 51% to 38% in House District 36A.
> 2024: Defeated Janelle Calhoun a Democrat, 54% to 45%.
> 2026: Lost the Republican endorsement for House District 36A to Jim DeMay, a fellow Republican. Regardless he filed for re-election as an unendorsed candidate in the August primary election.
Verbatim
Engen, in a public statement: “Peggy is a terrific servant-leader, and I wish I could be the partner she deserves in a lieutenant governor. . Unfortunately, this was not in the best interest of my family. Like so many other young families across our state, we aren’t in the financial position to have logistically made this work. For a leader like Peggy to have considered me for this position is truly humbling, and I hope someday our political system elevates voices like hers and turns away from coronating lukewarm conservative candidates. She’s a voice for reform in a state and party that desperately needs it, and I wish circumstances allowed me to be the partner she deserves.”