Minnesota GOP endorses Kendall Qualls for governor, Adam Schwarze for U.S. Senate
Kendall Qualls, a businessman and Army veteran, won the state Minnesota GOP's endorsement, the party said in a social media post on Saturday night.
Republican delegates endorsed Qualls at their state convention in Duluth, Minnesota.
Qualls upset frontrunner Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth for the endorsement. Demuth said she pledged to drop out of the governor's race if she wasn't endorsed, but it isn't clear if she will abide by the pledge or run in August's primary.
"The infighting is, unfortunately, it's disappointing. Hopefully Speaker Demuth decides to abide by the endorsements like she made that commitment," Qualls told reporters during a virtual meeting on Monday.
A spokesperson for Demuth's campaign would not confirm on Monday whether Demuth would stay in the race.
Qualls added on Saturday that he was "deeply honored and humbled" to earn the endorsement.
"This endorsement is a victory for every Minnesotan who believes our state can be better," he said in a statement.
The field of GOP gubernatorial hopefuls also included MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. According to the Star Tribune, he will run in the primary.
In 2021, Qualls founded the conservative advocacy group TakeCharge Minnesota. He made a gubernatorial run in 2022 but lost the GOP nomination to Scott Jensen.
Earlier this year, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz unexpectedly ended his reelection campaign amid intense scrutiny of his handling of the state's fraud scandal.
Adam Schwarze, a former Marine, won the Minnesota GOP endorsement for U.S. Senate on Friday.
"This endorsement belongs to thousands of Minnesotans in 87 counties who gave to this campaign, to the precinct captains who braved snow-covered streets to caucus in February, and to every grassroots conservative who refused to let Washington D.C. pick our candidate," Schwarze said in a written statement.
Michelle Tafoya, a former television sports reporter, came in second in voting at the convention but still filed to run on Monday. Tafoya spent a decade as a sideline reporter for NBC Sports before ending her tenure in 2021.
Schwarze and Tafoya are running for the Senate seat vacated by Sen. Tina Smith, who is retiring. A Republican has not been elected to the U.S. Senate from Minnesota since Norm Coleman in 2002.
How relevant are party endorsements?
Amy Frederiksen, WCCO GOP political analyst, said that while endorsements are important, they're not a coronation and aren't a true reflection of how Minnesotans feel.
"There are hundreds of thousands of Republican ... voters across the state that would love to vote in a primary and decide who our person is on the ballot, and that's democracy and that's what should be happening," said Frederiksen.
According to David Schultz, a political science professor, endorsement impact varies by party. It was back in 2018 when Erin Murphy, not Gov. Tim Walz, received the DFL endorsement for governor.
"What's really interesting for the Republican party, unlike with the Democrats, is that generally when it gets to a Republican primary, the candidates who were endorsed at the convention more often than not prevail in the primary," said Schultz.
