After more than 50 years of calling Minnesota home, my husband Bill and I made the heart-wrenching decision to leave our beloved state for Florida in 2023. Our story is one of disillusionment with the changing political landscape and a quest for freedom in a state that aligns with our values.

For decades, we built our lives in Minnesota. We raised seven children, ran a successful small business, and even campaigned for State House. We weathered the gradual shift towards more liberal policies. But the events of 2020 became a tipping point.

Our state’s destructive COVID-19 policies, the handling of the George Floyd riots, and the state’s aggressive promotion of the transgenderism and alternative lifestyle agenda in public schools have made our once-beloved Minnesota unrecognizable to us.

Gov. Tim Walz’s (D) handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the George Floyd riots opened our eyes to how drastically Minnesota had changed. The unnecessary and scientifically unproven mandates, the fearmongering and the waste of taxpayer money were alarming.