On May 12-13, 2022 Minnesota Republicans converged on the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, MN, to conduct party business and to endorse candidates for Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Auditor.
The assembled delegates and alternates, elected at lower-level conventions from Senate Districts and Counties to Congressional Districts across the state, met for 18 hours to complete their work. They approved the party constitution, settled on a party platform, heard from a number of Congressional incumbents and candidates, and endorsed candidates for the four key state-wide offices.
Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman David Hann congratulated each of the endorsed candidates, and his statements follow.
One of our SD50 Delegates, Larry Frost, provided additional reporting on action from his viewpoint seated on the Convention floor.
Endorsed for Governor: Dr. Scott Jensen (with Lt Gov. candidate Matt Birk).
Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman David Hann stated, “I am proud to congratulate Dr. Scott Jensen on winning our State Convention’s endorsement for governor. With his strong record of pro-growth, conservative leadership, we will partner with Dr. Jensen’s well-organized campaign to make our case to the voters for bold leadership on the tough issues facing our state – like crime, a struggling economy and more. We are excited to work hard to support Dr. Scott Jensen to defeat Tim Walz and the Democrats in November.”
Endorsed for Attorney General: Jim Schulz
Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman David Hann congratulated Jim Schultz on winning the Republican Party of Minnesota’s endorsement for attorney general. “Keith Ellison is a radical liberal who supports defunding the police, and his extremist politics have no place in our state’s top law enforcement office. Jim Schultz’s commitment to justice and the rule of law will be a welcome change. We look forward to partnering with Jim Schultz to take the politics out of the attorney general’s office and restore its status as the people’s top lawyer.”
Endorsed for Secretary of State: Kim Crockett
Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman David Hann congratulated Kim Crockett on winning our Republican endorsement to take on Steve Simon in November. “Minnesota needs a chief elections officer that will work hard every day to ensure our elections are free and fair, and protect important principles like one person, one vote. Steve Simon has used the secretary of state’s office as a political tool to advance extreme liberal priorities. He stood idly by while Democrats let illegal immigrants, felons and others ineligible voters participate in caucuses. Minnesota deserves better in our secretary of state, and Republicans are ready to work hard alongside Kim Crockett to take this critical office back in November.”
Endorsed for State Auditor: Ryan Wilson
Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman David Hann congratulated Ryan Wilson on his endorsement. “He is an experienced business leader who will prioritize good stewardship of taxpayer dollars and fight waste, fraud and abuse in government. Wilson’s record of successful financial leadership stands in stark contrast with Democrat Julie Blaha’s record of pandering to special interest groups like unions and looking the other way at government waste, fraud and abuse. We look forward to working with Ryan Wilson and his campaign to take back the state auditor’s office in November.”
A Viewpoint From the Convention Floor: State Convention Drama Leads to Key Endorsements
by Larry Frost
Ryan Wilson, running unopposed for State Auditor was endorsed unanimously by the convention.
Kim Crockett for Secretary of State was endorsed over her opponent after the second ballot, when her opponent withdrew. Kim received a standing ovation after her acceptance speech.
The endorsement for Attorney General was strongly contested. Candidate Doug Wardlow, who was the endorsed GOP candidate in the 2018 Attorney General race, was ahead on the first ballot, with newcomer opponent Jim Schultz in second place and judge Tad Jude in third. After the third ballot, Jude withdrew and threw his support to Schultz, who then jumped into first place on the fourth ballot. After a long discussion behind closed doors, Doug Wardlow elected not to contest the race any further and withdrew, leading to Schultz’ unopposed endorsement on the succeeding ballot. General concensus of delegates with whom I spoke after the AG endorsement was that Wardlow’s withdrawal left the party fully unified behind Schultz.
The convention voted to leave the endorsement for governor for Saturday.
On reconvening, the delegates settled in for a long contest. Candidates Sen. Paul Gazelka, Dr. Scott Jensen, Mike Murphy Kendall Qualls, and Dr. Neil Shah squared off in what would be a nine-ballot marathon resulting in Dr. Jensen’s endorsement, with surprises and drama on the way.
After ballot number one the candidates were Jensen-Qualls-Murphy-Shah-Gazelka, in descending order of votes. After each ballot was tallied, candidates got twenty minutes to attempt to persuade delegates to support them, and each then got three minutes to address the convention again.
Dr. Shah withdrew after 2 ballots and asked his supporters to back Mike Murphy, the mayor of Lexington, MN. Shah and Murphy supporters erupted into applause. Murphy rose briefly and just barely to first after Shah withdrew.
Starting with the third round, any candidate below a certain percentage of delegates was eliminated and the percentage got higher the more rounds of balloting that had taken place. Sen. Gazelka withdrew after the third ballot and threw his support to businessman and former GOP-endorsed candidate for Congress (CD3) Kendall Qualls. Qualls' numbers rose when the results of the fourth ballot were announced, put him in first place for the first time. Murphy dropped to 3rd place.
Through the 5th ballot, Kendall Qualls continued to lead, followed by Jensen, but Murphy’s numbers were falling.
Jensen had announced Matt Birk as his lieutenant governor running mate long before the convention. Murphy chose Lacy Johnson, but Qualls had not announced a running mate. I spoke with Qualls campaign officials on Thursday evening before the convention, and with Qualls himself after one of the ballots, and was told Qualls would announce his running mate on Sunday, after the convention, and that “…the party would be pleased with his selection.”
This may have been a serious error for Qualls. Around ballot four or five I spoke with several undecided delegates in five of the eight Congressional District delegations. They unanimously agreed that they were less likely to support Qualls exactly because they did not want, as one put it to me, “… to buy a pig in a poke as our next lieutenant governor.” In short, not having an announced running mate appeared to materially harm Qualls’ effort to win delegates.
On the sixth ballot, Mike Murphy fell below the minimum percentage and was eliminated, leaving Jensen and Qualls.
What happened next surprised the convention. Prior to the seventh ballot, Mike Murphy came to the podium and asked his supporters to back Dr. Jensen. Had it ended there, it would simply have been a decision like Sen. Gazelka’s and Dr. Shah’s – a political decision, in their case at least partly to ensure party unity after the convention.
But after endorsing Sen. Jensen, Murphy proceeded to tell the convention that Qualls had “…offered me…” the lieutenant governor’s slot and added that Qualls withdrew the offer when Murphy asked Qualls to specify what Murphy’s role would be in a Qualls administration. Murphy then said that Qualls was a “sellout”, without specifying why. Certainly Qualls had every right to choose his lieutenant governor running mate. That charge had a large percentage of delegates on their feet, booing.
In his next speech, an angry Qualls told delegates his reputation had been soiled, and denied specifically offering the lieutenant governor slot to Murphy. What Murphy and Qualls were slicing and dicing semantically appears to be this: Regardless of who approached whom, Murphy and Qualls discussed possible roles for Murphy in a Qualls administration, and that discussion may have included the possibility of Murphy taking the lieutenant governor slot. Qualls appears to be taking the position he never actually made that offer to Murphy. Regardless of what actually occurred between Qualls and Murphy, I found no delegate on the floor who was happy about what was said.
On the ninth ballot, Dr. Jensen secured the vote of 65% of delegates. He returned to the stage with his running mate Matt Birk and several supporters, including Mike Murphy, to accept the Republican Party endorsement. Unfortunately, Kendall Qualls did not join him on the stage and apparently left the convention hall.
Postscript:
Rich Stanek joined the campaign for governor late and did not seek the endorsement. He also suffered a serious car accident after entering the race. It is assumed he will run in the primary against Dr. Jensen.
All the candidates at the convention made repeated public promises to honor the party endorsement and not run against the endorsed candidate. I spoke with all the candidates during the convention, and they also promised me that they would actively support the winner.
We'll see.