MINNEAPOLIS — The Republican Party of Minnesota has elected Alex Plechash as chairman, ousting David Hann as the party's leader during the state central committee meeting on Saturday.
The committee also voted for Dep. Chairwoman Donna Bergstrom to keep her position.
"We had lots of passion and emotions and conversations in our ballroom, but it was really good," Bergstrom said on Sunday. "At the end of the day, I'm very happy that I was reelected as deputy chair."
Bergstrom said a big focus for the party moving forward will be on messaging and reaching more people as they prepare for the gubernatorial race in 2026.
Plechash currently serves on the Wayzata City Council. According to his campaign website, he is a former committeeman for the Republican National Committee and has spent 20 years as a Republican activist.
Bergstrom has held her role as deputy chair since 2021, a time when the party was navigating financial struggles, the forced resignation of former chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan and a prominent donor's sex trafficking charges.
"When I was first appointed by chairman Hann in October of '21, and he was elected, we were in very, very bad shape, quite frankly," Bergstrom said. "We had lost a lot of trust throughout the state with our party units. We were in the financial dire straits, if you will, so there was a real emphasis on bringing stability back, bringing non-drama back."
"He and I had a great working relationship," Bergstrom continued, speaking of her relationship with former chairman Hann. "We talked through issues behind closed doors, worked out those differences and so when we came forward, it was pretty much a united front, and I think the party needed that and appreciated that. Then there were some times when people would ask me to, 'You got to really stand up and push back,' and things like that, and I said I will definitely be your voice, but at the end of the day the chairman's the chairman and he gets to make the decision."
Bergstrom said she is looking forward to a more bold and united party under Plechash.
"He's also a retired Marine, so we have what I say is a secret handshake," she said. "I don't think he's going to be afraid to make bold decisions, and I think people are really looking for that. We saw that modeled on the national level, we saw President-elect Trump do that same thing, be very bold in his statements, and tell people black and white this is how it is, and I think people are really looking for that in Minnesota."
Minnesota DFL chairman Ken Martin said Hann's removal as chairman was made "with by the help of far-right activists, including the group Action 4 Liberty" and provided this statement in response to the GOP's new leadership:
"The Minnesota GOP has been completely captured by the most extreme, fringe activists in Minnesota politics. Control of Minnesota's entire state government is on the ballot in 2026. Today's chaos shows that if Minnesota Republicans regain power, they will be beholden to the same far-right fringe that now dominates the national Republican Party."
The Minnesota GOP has not won a statewide election in Minnesota in almost two decades.
Plechash did not return KARE's call for comment.