GOP Governor Candidate Stanek Hospitalized After Crash

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Republican gubernatorial candidate Rich Stanek was hospitalized Tuesday night after a car crash following a campaign event in Buffalo, authorities said.

The Minnesota State Patrol said Stanek collided with a car going north on Highway 25 Tuesday night as he was pulling out of the Buffalo Covenant Church parking lot driving a pickup truck, the Star Tribune reported. Alcohol was not a factor for either driver and both drivers were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, the patrol said.

Campaign spokesman Jon Collins told the Star Tribune that Stanek, a former Hennepin County sheriff, was examined for injuries to his neck and back due to previous injuries in those areas. The other driver suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Collins said Stanek would be released from the hospital Thursday to return to the campaign trail. The campaign did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press.

Stanek was sheriff from 2007 to 2019 and is now among the Republican hopefuls looking to get the GOP endorsement next month to face Democratic Gov. Tim Walz in November.