Race is tight as Minnesota GOP picks candidate for governor

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Republicans reconvened Saturday to endorse a candidate to challenge Democratic Gov. Tim Walz in the November election but the five candidates were tightly bunched on the early ballots, showing that all had earned loyal pockets of support.

Dr. Scott Jensen, a vaccine skeptic and former state senator, took an early but narrow lead with over 29% on the second ballot. Business executive Kendall Qualls was second with over 28%, followed by Lexington Mayor Mike Murphy at 19%, dermatologist Neal Shah at nearly 13% and former Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka at just over 10%. A candidate needs 60% to win the endorsement.

All had pledged to honor the party’s endorsement and forego the right to run in the Aug. 9 GOP primary, assuming there was no deadlock. Former President Donald Trump, still a potent force within the party, has not endorsed anyone in the Minnesota races.

The 2,200 delegates had to complete their work by a 6 p.m. Saturday deadline for vacating the Rochester Mayo Civic Center, but the relatively fast and smooth electronic voting process Friday appeared to reduce the chances of running out of time and leaving without an endorsement. Delegates and party leaders are hoping at least one of their candidates becomes the first Republican elected to statewide office since Gov. Tim Pawlenty was reelected in 2006.

Jensen, a family physician from Chaska, got the earliest start in the race and raised the most money. He built a national following as he framed his COVID-19 vaccine skepticism — and opposition to mask mandates and school and business closures — as support for medical freedom. He stressed in his speech his efforts as a state senator to stand up against the Walz administration’s handling of the pandemic.

“Everyone in this room has grasped at some level that Tim Walz has failed. He’s done. But who’s going to step forward? Who’s going to serve for the benefit, security and the protection of all the people? Who’s going to help Minnesota find its way back to be the bright and shining Star of the North?” Jensen asked in a video preceding his speech. “The answer is you.”

Qualls highlighted his rise from poverty, to going to college, to becoming an Army officer and a business leader. He said his life is a testament to the failure of the Democratic agenda and shows that the American dream is still alive.

“The radical left thinks I shouldn’t be here. The media doesn’t think I should be here. Tim Walz wishes I wasn’t here at all,” Qualls said to loud applause. “And poor Joe Biden, he tells people that look like me that I’m not Black, that we’re not Black, we didn’t vote for him. Well, after voting for Donald J. Trump for president — both times — and I’m still Black. And I’m still Republican. And I’m going to be Joe Biden’s and Tim Walz’s worst nightmare.”

Gazelka, a state senator from of East Gull Lake, stressed his support for law enforcement in the wake of the sometimes violent unrest and spike in crime following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. His supporters on the stage included Brian Peters, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.

Gazelka reminded delegates that President Joe Biden’s approval ratings are sagging, inflation is at the highest in 40 years, gasoline prices are soaring and that Russian President Vladimir Putin has put the world on edge with his war in Ukraine.

“Here in Minnesota we have Tim Walz who overreacted on the pandemic,” Gazelka said, pausing to ask the crowd to shout amen. “And he underreacted for the riots.”

On the fourth ballot Friday night, the convention endorsed business attorney Jim Schultz for attorney general, an office Minnesota Republicans haven’t won since 1968. He’s hoping to oust incumbent Keith Ellison, a former congressman who led the prosecution team that won the murder conviction of ex-Officer Derek Chauvin in Floyd’s death.

Schultz defeated Doug Wardlow, who was the party’s candidate in 2018 and is general counsel at MyPillow. That company’s CEO, Mike Lindell, has risen to national prominence for perpetuating the false claim that Trump won the 2020 election. Also losing were former Washington County judge Tad Jude and attorney Lynne Torgerson. Former legislator Dennis Smith plans to challenge Schultz in the GOP primary.