Republican Party of Minnesota

History

Early history

The Republican Party in Minnesota was the dominant party in the state for approximately the first seventy years of Minnesota's statehood, from 1858 through the 1920s. In the Civil War, the state supported Abolitionism and the Union.

Republican candidates routinely won the state governorship as well as most other state offices, having 12 out of the first 13.

The 1892 Republican National Convention was held in Minneapolis. The party was aided by an opposition divided between the Democratic Party and the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party, which eventually merged in 1944.

Independent-Republican era

The Independent-Republicans of Minnesota (I-R) was the name of the party from November 15, 1975, until September 23, 1995. The name change was made because the "Republican" brand was widely thought to have been damaged by the Watergate Scandal. Polls conducted in the early-mid-1970s indicated people in Minnesota were more likely to vote for a candidate who identified as an "Independent" versus a "Republican". During that time, the state party became more dependent on grassroots fundraising and eventually went bankrupt. After the national party pumped money into the party, in the early-mid-1980s, their image and base began turning more conservative. During this time the party held both US Senate seats and briefly controlled the state House of Representatives. By 1994, the grassroots had turned socially more conservative and changed the name back in 1995. Attempts to drop the term "Independent" had previously been defeated in 1989, 1991 and 1993.

2000-2010s

For the 2006 U.S. Senate election, the party endorsed Mark Kennedy for United States Senate, who lost to Amy Klobuchar.

In the 2008 U.S. Senate election, incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman was defeated by Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate Al Franken by 312 votes out of over 2.5 million cast after a long series of dramatic, contentious, and expensive re-counts.

The party was fined $170,000 for violating federal campaign finance regulations from 2003 to 2008. The Chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party Tony Sutton (R) was found guilty of circumventing Finance Laws in the Gubernatorial Election Recount of 2010 and fined $33,000. (2010)

The last Republican Governor of Minnesota was Tim Pawlenty. He was elected in 2002; after winning re-election in 2006, he served two terms. With Tom Emmer's defeat in 2010 by Mark Dayton, Republicans held the governorship for eight years. Despite having lost every executive race in the general election of 2010, the party captured both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature for the first time since the 1970s, and defeated 18-term Rep. Jim Oberstar by electing Chip Cravaack to Minnesota's 8th district.

2010 gubernatorial race

For the 2010 statewide elections, the party endorsed State Representative Tom Emmer and Metropolitan Council member Annette Meeks for governor and lieutenant governor. State Representative Dan Severson was the endorsed candidate for secretary of state. Attorney and psychologist Chris Barden was the endorsed candidate for attorney general. Patricia Anderson was the endorsed candidate for state auditor. All five executive candidates lost their respective elections.

Following the 2010 gubernatorial recount, the Minnesota GOP was heavily in debt, owing $2 million primarily for the recount of votes. The GOP had stopped paying rent for its headquarters near the Capitol and the landlord filed an eviction summons once the Party had fallen $111,000 behind in rent. They announced they would move their headquarters to Minneapolis's Seward neighborhood in January 2014. The new headquarters is situated diagonally across from the Seward Community Cafe where it shares a building with a Pizza Luce. Party Chairman Keith Downey said they were moving away from St. Paul "to be closer to the people." The headquarters were later moved to Edina. Despite this, in 2010, Republicans had taken control of both houses of the State Legislature for the first time in three decades, only to lose both houses in 2012.

Recent history

In 2021, the Minnesota Republican Party became a subject of controversy when donor and strategist Anton Lazzaro was indicted for sex trafficking charges.

• Minnesota Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan resigned amidst the controversy.

The party ran Scott Jensen for the 2022 gubernatorial race, who lost to incumbent Tim Walz.

• The party also lost its majority in the Minnesota Senate, giving the DFL a trifecta, but the party held to the four seats in the US House of Representatives.

Ideology and voter-base

The Minnesota Republicans have a strong voter base in rural and suburban parts of Greater Minnesota.

2022 Party Platform

In the party's 2022 platform, the party opposed abortion access, calling for the overturning of Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which subsequently happened, and the Minnesota Doe v. Gomez, which is still standing. It also opposes legal recognition of same-sex marriage. They also "support the prohibition of Ranked Choice Voting in Minnesota." On gun policy, the statement says that citizens who follow the law should "have the right to purchase and possess firearms, free from any gun registration system." For education, the platform also opposes "any element of Critical Race Theory or associated curricula and programs."

Current elected officials

The Minnesota Republican Party holds none of the five statewide elected offices, neither United States Senate seat, and four of the state's eight United States House of Representatives seats. It holds a minority of seats in the Minnesota Senate and holds exactly half of the seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

• None

Both of Minnesota's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Democrats since 2009. Norm Coleman was the last Republican to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate.

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the eight seats Minnesota is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, 4 are held by Republicans:

Statewide offices

• None

Minnesota has not elected any GOP candidates to statewide office since 2006, when Tim Pawlenty was narrowly re-elected as governor. In 2010, Pawlenty opted not to seek re-election to a third term. State representative Tom Emmer ran as the Republican nominee in the 2010 election and was subsequently defeated by Democratic challenger Mark Dayton.

State legislature

• Senate Minority Leader: Mark Johnson
• Speaker of the House: Lisa Demuth

List of Chairs

• P. Kenneth Peterson (1950–1953)
• Ron Eibensteiner (1999–2005)
• Ron Carey (2005–2009)
• Tony Sutton (2009–2011)
• Pat Shortridge (2011–2013)
• Keith Downey (2013–2017)
• Jennifer Carnahan (2017–2021)
• David Hann (2021–2024)
• Alex Plechash (2024–present)

Electoral history

President

State

Governor

References

References

1. (December 16, 2024). "State Republicans pick Alex Plechash as party chair". [[Minnesota Star Tribune]].
2. "THE GENESIS OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN MINNESOTA". [[Minnesota Historical Society]].
3. Sturdevant, Lori. "Politics in Minnesota".
4. http://www.citypages.com, AUGUST 19, 2011, MINNESOTA GOP FINED $170,000 FOR FEC VIOLATIONS BY MIKE MULLEN, [http://www.citypages.com/news/minnesota-gop-fined-170-000-for-fec-violations-6545785]
5. http://www.mprnews.org, July 13, 2012, Minn. GOP, former chairman fined over recount by Tom Scheck [http://www.mprnews.org/story/2012/07/13/politics/sutton-gop-recount-fines]
6. (2011-01-17). "GOP chairman Sutton to join PR company". Startribune.com.
7. Kaszuka, Mike. (November 4, 2010). "Republicans celebrate, outline legislative goals". [[Star Tribune]].
8. Helgeson, Baird. (April 23, 2012). "Debt-laden Minn. GOP notified of eviction". [[Star Tribune]].
9. Helgeson, Baird. (December 9, 2013). "State GOP moves HQ to Minneapolis DFL stronghold". [[Star Tribune]].
10. Salisbury, Bill. (December 9, 2013). "Minnesota GOP to move offices from St. Paul to Minneapolis". [[St. Paul Pioneer Press.
11. "About {{!}} MNGOP".
12. (20 August 2021). "Minnesota GOP Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan resigns".
13. (2022-05-14). "Minnesota GOP Endorses Dr. Scott Jensen To Take On Gov. Tim Walz". [[CBS News]].
14. (2022-05-14). "Minnesota GOP backs Scott Jensen in race to unseat Gov. Tim Walz". [[Star Tribune]].
15. (9 November 2022). "MinnPost analysis: DFL turns GOP talk of midterm dominance into 'trifecta' of its own".
16. "2022 Republican Party of Minnesota Platform".
17. "2022 Republican Party of Minnesota Platform".
18. Sherman, Mark. (2022-06-25). "Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade; states can ban abortion". [[AP News]].
19. (2022-06-24). "Roe v Wade: US Supreme Court ends constitutional right to abortion". [[BBC]].
20. "2022 Republican Party of Minnesota Platform".
21. "2022 Republican Party of Minnesota Platform".
22. "2022 Republican Party of Minnesota Platform".
23. "2022 Republican Party of Minnesota Platform".
24. "Peterson, Paul Kenneth "P. Kenneth, P.K." - Legislator Record - Minnesota Legislators Past & Present".
25. "MPR: Minnesota Republicans dump their party's boss".