ROCHESTER, Minn. — Dr. Scott Jensen won the Minnesota GOP's endorsement to challenge Democratic Gov. Tim Walz in the November election.
Dr. Jensen, a vaccine skeptic and former state senator, earned 65.12% of the votes in the ninth ballot Saturday at the Rochester Convention Center after Lexington Mayor Mike Murphy backed him after being eliminated on the sixth ballot. Business executive Kendall Qualls received 32.66% of the vote in the ninth ballot.
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.
Ken Martin, the DFL Chairman, released the following statement in response to the GOP's endorsement:
“Minnesota Republicans have chosen the most extreme and dangerous candidate to lead their party in the fall. In just the last two weeks, Scott Jensen has promised to ban abortion for rape victims and to throw one of his political opponents in jail. Minnesotans want their leaders to focus on helping working families, but Scott Jensen is only interested in his far-right political agenda. This fall, voters will have a clear choice between Scott Jensen’s extremism and Governor Walz’s responsible leadership.”
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.”
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.
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