Who Is
Zac Harding.
I'm not rich. I'm not a lawyer. I've never run for office. I'm the oldest of six kids, grew up in Minneapolis, and I've spent my whole life figuring out how to build things with almost nothing and get out of the way when the right people show up.
I play guitar and my wife Sarah sings. She is pregnant with our first child, due in September. I am running for governor of the state my child is going to grow up in. That is not an abstract thing for me.
That is the whole thing.
Who I'm Not.
I'm not perfect. I've made mistakes. I've squandered opportunities I should have handled better. My family lives paycheck to paycheck while saving what little we can. I don't own a home.
I'm not religious but I am spiritual. I believe people are fundamentally good and don't need to be told who to love or how to pray.
I'm not building a cult. This isn't about me. If someone comes along who can do this better I will support them. What I care about is the outcome for Minnesota.
I love Star Wars. I love music and can play every instrument poorly. I cry at things. I feel other people's pain deeply and I don't apologize for it.
I've spent a long time in marketing and sales. I know how to start a conversation with a stranger, find out what's actually wrong, and work toward solving it. That is not a political skill. That is a human one. And it is exactly what I think governing should look like.
I'm not a politician. I'm a Minnesotan who ran out of reasons to wait for someone else to show up.
Why Independent.
I am not running as a Democrat or a Republican. That is not an accident and it is not a protest. It is a decision.
Both parties have shown they will put the party before the people when it counts. I have no party to answer to. No donor class to protect. No national committee telling me what I can and cannot say.
That means I can build coalitions based on what actually works. I can work with a Republican on transparency and a Democrat on housing in the same week without anyone calling that a betrayal. I can tell you the truth even when it costs me something.
Minnesota has done this before. We elected Jesse Ventura because people were tired of being told their only choices were the two options the parties put in front of them. That instinct was right then and it is right now.
Independence is not about rejecting cooperation. It is about having the freedom to do what is actually right.
What I Believe.
Government should answer before it asks. Most people only hear from their government when it wants something. A tax. A form. A fee. A donation. A draft. A vote. That ends here.
People are fundamentally good. Systems are often not.
Transparency is not a feature. It is a requirement.
Everyone does not win. But everyone can succeed. Those are different things and the difference matters.
You should be able to disagree with your government without fearing it.
A floor is not a ceiling. I never want to limit how high anyone can climb. I just want to make sure nobody falls through.
Pilot. Measure. Adjust. No ideology survives contact with real people. Build something, see if it works, fix it if it doesn't.
The strongest thing a leader can do is find someone smarter than them and get out of their way.