Minnesota Republican Party leaders took a step weakening newly issued candidate endorsements on Monday, saying candidates for governor wouldn’t be held to commitments not to move on to a primary if they didn’t get the party’s nod.
Republican Party Chair Alex Plechash said that while the party stands by its endorsed candidates, tech issues over the weekend caused confusion and chaos. And he opened the door for candidates who didn’t get endorsed to continue their campaigns to a primary.
Businessman Kendall Qualls won the party’s endorsement in the governor’s race. But the new comments could open the door for House Speaker Lisa Demuth to challenge him and other Republicans in an August primary.
“I believe it is appropriate to make clear that any gubernatorial candidate who agreed to abide by the endorsement, should not be treated as bound by that pledge,” Plechash said in a statement Monday afternoon. “Those candidates may make their own decision about whether to continue their campaign into the primary.”
Qualls earlier in the day said the endorsement would bring him resources that could help fend off primary challengers next month. And he called on other candidates to come together in support of his campaign.
“We need to put aside differences and rally around the candidate just like I did in 2022. I had an opportunity to challenge Scott Jensen. I made a commitment to abide by the endorsement, and I did not,” Qualls told reporters. “In fact, I went on the Capitol steps with him at a press conference and united the party at that time.”
Republican convention in Duluth
Republicans face competitive and potentially pricey primaries in the two main races this year in Minnesota: governor and U.S. Senate.
It took 10 ballots on Saturday for Qualls to lock in the endorsement for governor. He prevailed over five other candidates in a contest that included an hourslong standoff over issues with electronic voting devices.
Qualls, a former healthcare executive and think tank founder, said only a political outsider could clean up problems in St. Paul and break Republicans’ two-decade losing streak in statewide races.
“I have nothing against the Legislature, but I was in the conventional Army, and I was an artillery officer. When we can’t get it done, we know that we need the special forces,” Qualls said after winning the nomination. “The conventional forces can’t get it done after 20 years. I think at a certain time you got to say, OK, maybe we can’t get it done. Let’s call this, let’s get something different.”
That message won out after the race turned into a head-to-head showdown between him and Demuth.
A few candidates went into the votes saying they’d go to a primary no matter what, including MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Qualls’ main rival, Demuth, had pledged to leave the race if someone else won the endorsement.
But she left the possibility open to filing for office after raising issues with how the voting was conducted. The hand-held clickers that delegates used to cast convention votes were called into question and required redos after doubts about the numbers were raised.
“There is no confidence in what is happening,” Demuth said as tensions grew inside the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center over the vote tallies.
Any candidate who wants to be on the Aug. 11 ballot must file campaign paperwork by Tuesday at 5 p.m. Demuth didn’t address her status by the time the convention ended or make any public remarks on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a U.S. Senate primary also looms. Republicans endorsed former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze in that race, but well-known sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya has said she’ll run in a primary.
Schwarze billed himself as the candidate aligned most with GOP stances.
“You don’t have to compromise on values. We can hold life. We can support our Second Amendment rights. We can support our First Amendment rights,” he said from the stage. “We don’t have to compromise on this race.”
Tafoya said she’d present the party a better chance for the open Senate seat in a general election.
“The ultimate goal is winning in November and giving Minnesota the serious leadership it deserves,” Tafoya said.
Republican delegate Dale Zoerb, of New Brighton, said he was glad to see the party bypass so-called establishment candidates. Zoerb sported a vest that said “conservative voter” on his back with a plastic knife that read “RINO” — short for “Republican in name only” — piercing it.
“Almost everyone that won (at the convention) was not a politician, so I am just elated,” Zoerb said. “I've donated to all but one of the candidates that won tonight, and that’s what we need to do. We can’t just say we want somebody else, we have to get involved.”
Delegate Wendy Wahl, of Thief River Falls, characterized herself as a swing voter at the convention. She said she’d be willing to reevaluate and get behind other GOP candidates if Republican primary voters picked someone else.
“All of these candidates were so great that if they happen to win, I could pivot to that,” Wahl said. “If the people think, you know, you really made a wrong choice, they can turn around and correct our choice.”
DFL convention in Rochester
Democrats didn’t have the same kind of drawn-out fights for the two offices at their convention.
Amy Klobuchar notched a first-ballot win for the party’s endorsement for governor. But there was still a faction within the convention that wanted an alternative, and they put their votes behind Kobey Layne, a progressive candidate.
Klobuchar promised to be “a transformative governor” who will support measures to “make life affordable for everyone, making our government work, getting rid of the fraud, making our economy better and creating good paying jobs."
Tim McLean, a DFL delegate from Blaine, said Democrats will field a strong candidate in Klobuchar, who stepped into the race after two-term DFL Gov. Tim Walz dropped his reelection bid in January.
McLean said while some fellow Democrats might not see her as progressive enough, she’s a candidate that has shown she can win statewide.
“She does align with most of my positions, she really does,” he said. “But in any — in the worst case, in the worst iteration of Amy Klobuchar — my God, she beats the alternatives for governor. She truly does,” McLean said.
Klobuchar will still have opposition in the August primary but none with the financial wherewithal or name recognition to put her eventual nomination in doubt.
The big question mark for Democrats is the U.S. Senate race.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan easily claimed the endorsement with no opponent at the convention.
Days before the convention, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig announced she’d skip the convention and head straight to the primary. She has already filed for the ballot.
Flanagan said she is more in tune with what Democrats want in a candidate and that the endorsement would put her on track for the nomination.
"This DFL endorsement process matters because it's one of the few places in politics where grassroots organizing matters more than money,” she said.
Popular party figures Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Secretary of State Steve Simon won their DFL endorsements by acclamation. They ran unopposed.
Republicans picked Minneapolis attorney Ron Schutz for attorney general and former judge Tad Jude for secretary of state.
In the open auditor’s race, Braham Mayor Nate George won the GOP endorsement while former Duluth City Council member Zack Filipovich won the DFL’s backing.
