MN governor race to replace Walz sees major shakeup as GOP contender ends campaign: 'Don't see a path'

By Fox News · Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: Minnesota Republican lawmaker Kristin Robbins, chair of the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee , announced on Friday she is ending her gubernatorial campaign to replace embattled Gov. Tim Walz . "It was not a tough decision to get into the race 10 months ago," Robbins exclusively told Fox News Digital. "We could not allow Tim Walz to have a third term in Minnesota. He's destroyed our state, and we had to stop him and so I think I made a great case for that, and because of all my work on the fraud committee he got out 9 months ahead of schedule, which is great." Robbins continued, "Once Senator Klobuchar became sort of the anointed candidate to replace him, I just think the establishment kind of circled the wagons and, you know, it became a challenging endeavor, and I'm a realist, and I am a numbers person, and when I look at the math, I don't see a path for me to win." Weeks after Walz dropped his re-election bid in January amid a massive fraud scandal that unfolded during his watch, Sen. Amy Klobuchar jumped into the race , bringing her deep political backing and name recognition with her as the presumptive nominee for the Democrats. MINNESOTA LAWMAKERS UNLOAD ON WALZ'S 'LEGACY' AFTER HE TOUTS FRAUD RECORD IN FINAL ADDRESS: 'RIDICULOUS' Robbins told Fox News Digital she determined it was better to "bow out" and find a "new way to contribute" due to love of her state and the realization that there are "many ways to serve." In terms of what’s next, Robbins says she hasn’t had the time to give that much thought but said she is focused on closing out the current legislative session and said "there's a lot of big things going on in the front committee." "I know where the bodies are buried," Robbins said about the fraud situation, pointing out that there is much more work to be done to get answers on how the billions of dollars in fraud was allowed to go unchecked for so long. MN LAWMAKER TAKES ACTION TO GET ANSWERS ON OMAR'S ALLEG…