This year’s elections are taking shape as party conventions concluded last weekend and Tuesday’s candidate filing deadline came and went. The headline endorsements focus on gubernatorial candidates, with the DFL choosing current U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Republicans choosing businessman and veteran Kendall Qualls, albeit with a caveat.
The GOP’s convention in Duluth was marked by confusion, as delegates and some candidates asserted that their electronic clickers—used to vote for nominees—were experiencing errors and therefore causing hours-long delays. This apparent issue prompted some to question the endorsement’s legitimacy, triggering a response from Party Chair Alex Plechash, who released Republican gubernatorial candidates from their pledge not to run against the endorsed candidate. The statement paved the way for House Speaker Lisa Demuth—once considered the frontrunner for the party—to continue her campaign and file for candidacy. For Republicans’ Lt. Governor picks, Demuth has selected attorney Ryan Wilson and Qualls has selected fellow businessman Brian Nicholson.
On the other side of the aisle, DFLers gathered in Rochester for their nominating convention, with much less suspense than their political counterparts. As most folks anticipated, Amy Klobuchar received the gubernatorial nomination, but not without a small, unexpected challenge. Late into Friday evening, Kobey Layne—a relatively unknown candidate and former legislative staffer—garnered enough support from delegates to earn her a chance to make a speech. Despite what was described as a pretty genuine pitch, Layne only delayed the inevitable, with Klobuchar sailing to the endorsement with 68% of the vote.
However, the most notable news out of Klobuchar’s campaign was not regarding her endorsement. Late last week, Klobuchar announced that she had chosen our very own former CGMC board member and former mayor of Fergus Falls, Ben Schierer, who will join her on the ticket as her Lt. Governor candidate.
For the contentious open U.S. Senate seat—previously held by retiring senator Tina Smith—Adam Schwarze received the GOP endorsement, and DFLers endorsed Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan.
After a hotly contested convention, GOP delegates ultimately chose Schwarze—a former Navy SEAL and a self-proclaimed “uncompromising conservative”—over former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, who had argued that her moderate stance would be the key to breaking the party’s 24-year losing streak in the state’s U.S. Senate races. Tafoya has stated that she still plans to run in the primary and will be joined in the field by former Senate candidate Royce White. Flanagan easily won the DFL endorsement after Rep. Angie Craig announced just before the convention that she would not seek the party’s endorsement and would head straight to the primary instead.
