Minnesota governor candidate Lisa Demuth says she will "seek and abide by" GOP endorsement
In a crowded field, Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth had a very good caucus night; she won the straw poll by about 32%.
Kendall Qualls came in second at 25%, and Mike Lindell finished third with about 17%.
The Republican Party endorsing convention is in May, and Demuth has said that if she doesn't win the endorsement, she will drop out, but several candidates are expected to continue to the August primary.
"I am committed to both seek and abide by the endorsement. I am hoping we can just narrow that field, send our endorsed candidate ready to defeat whatever Democrat ends up on the ballot in November," Demuth said.
The winner of the August primary will likely face DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who has been able to win Republican and Independent votes for years, and her last statewide election was no different. She carried 12 Minnesota counties that President Trump won. While she won her Senate reelection by 16 points, Democratic candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz only won by four points.
As House speaker, Demuth will be front and center for the next three months during the upcoming legislative session. That will also put her front and center in the debate over the federal and state handling of Operation Metro Surge. Demuth, who is asking for the president's endorsement, says she supports the administration's policies, including the current drawdown.
"What I stand by is enforcing federal immigration laws," Demuth said. "I am pleased to see that Tom Homan is now in the state. You see that there is more cooperation between our county officials and our mayors, probably Gov. Walz, too, where there is a pulling back of some of the law enforcement officers."
WCCO also asked Demuth, who is Black, for her view of the president's widely criticized social media post depicting Barack Obama and the former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.
"That was horrific. I was incredibly frustrated with that as a person of color myself," she said.
Demuth will gavel in the start of this year's legislative session on Feb. 17.
You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Adam Del Rosso every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
