By Phillip C. Parrish, Candidate for Governor of Minnesota
Dear Fellow Minnesotans,
Stop being in awe of the alleged success of some among us. Stop idolizing people or institutions that parade their “achievements” while the rest of us foot the bill. Rise, Minnesotans. Rise.
The evidence is all around us, etched into shuttered Main Street storefronts, ballooning property-tax bills, and a state government that now ranks #1 in the nation for corporate welfare giveaways—over $1.7 billion in the last decade alone, according to the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence. That’s $310 for every man, woman, and child in the state, handed to Fortune 500 giants and out-of-state developers who already sit on record profits. Meanwhile, the median Minnesota family saw its real income shrink by 3.2% from 2019 to 2024 (U.S. Census ACS data), even as the cost of housing jumped 42% and childcare topped $16,000 per year per child.
Look at the institutions we’re told to revere:
• Our flagship university, once a beacon of affordable excellence, now charges in-state students $35,000+ per year for room, board, and tuition—more than double what it cost a generation ago, adjusted for inflation—while its endowment swells to $4.9 billion and its president pockets $870,000 annually.
• Our “world-class” health systems that brag about national rankings yet lead the region in medical debt lawsuits, filing over 12,000 against patients in 2023 alone (Minnesota Attorney General data).
• Our political class, which passed a $52 billion biennial budget in 2023—up 40% in four years—then turned around and imposed a new payroll tax on every worker to fund a paid-leave boondoggle projected to cost $2.3 billion more than advertised by 2031 (Office of the Legislative Auditor).
These are not triumphs; they are extractive schemes dressed up as progress. The “success” we’re instructed to applaud is too often just grift in a better suit.
Yet here we stand—the majority of us—still getting up at 5 a.m. to plow snow, still coaching Little League after second shifts, still keeping rural clinics open with bake-sale proceeds and sheer stubbornness. We are the ones who:
• Kept food shelves stocked when supply chains collapsed.
• Turned basements into homeschool classrooms when the system faltered.
• Paid the taxes that built the stadiums, the light-rail lines, the executive bonus pools—then watched ticket prices and fares soar out of reach.
That is the real Minnesota miracle: ordinary people surviving—and often thriving—in spite of the chaos, thievery, and grifting at the top.
So give yourselves the credit you’ve been trained to withhold. Stop genuflecting before marble lobbies and press-release ribbon-cuttings. The awe belongs to the carpenter in Bemidji who mentors apprentices for free, the nurse in Rochester who covers extra shifts without complaint, the farmer in Worthington who still plants a row for the food shelf.
Rise, Minnesotans. Rise.
The state doesn’t need more idols.
It needs you—unapologetic, clear-eyed, and done waiting for permission to be great.
In solidarity,
Phillip C. Parrish
Candidate for Governor of Minnesota
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Phillip C. Parrish is a retired U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander, farmer, teacher, administrator, and candidate for Governor of Minnesota in 2026.