On Thursday evening, I had my first opportunity to hear from some of the 2022 Republican candidates for MN Attorney General. Of the five which are currently vying for the nomination to defeat incumbent AG Keith Ellison, three (Tad Jude, Jim Schultz and Doug Wardlow) spoke at a candidate forum in Plymouth. Candidate Dennis Smith is not abiding by the endorsement of MNGOP delegates, so he declined the invite. The fifth candidate, Lynne Torgerson, was scheduled to appear but, for reasons no one could explain, she was a no-show.
My impressions of the three who were present? First, the obvious. Any of them would be orders of magnitude more effective than Ellison. But if we're serious about winning a statewide election for the first time since 2006, then we have to look at electoral viability. As such, Torgerson with her (to be charitable) wildly eccentric personality is a nonstarter. And as much as it pains me to say it, Wardlow can't be the GOP nominee like he was in 2018. Yeah, I know. He came the closest of all our statewide candidates in '18 to emerging victorious and (as he touted multiple times Thursday) he garnered the most votes of any MN Republican in a single midterm election. However, it was against a terribly flawed candidate in Ellison who was also being dogged by serious allegations of domestic violence at the time. And being so closely tied to MyPillow founder (and stolen election conspiracy theorist) Mike Lindell may aid Wardlow among GOP delegates who still consider the 2020 election results fraudulent, but it's a sure loser in the general election.
Jude is certainly the most experienced politico, having won his first election in 1972 at the age of 20. In fact, he went out of his way several time to emphasize he's won 10 elections (whether as a state legislator or judge) to just a combined one for the other two candidates on stage.
As we saw in the state of Virginia five months ago, never holding elected office is a feature, not a bug. If that's the mentality among MN voters, then Schultz is someone who will get serious consideration.
Smith is the one AG candidate who has appeared on my radio show this cycle. He appeared to be a sharp guy and believes he is making inroads in the DFL strongholds that are the inner cities. Unfortunately, he is being dogged by some issues with his law license, something that will certainly be held against him if he's the candidate (This despite the fact that Ellison himself is not licensed to practice law in Minnesota).
With violent crime continuing to skyrocket in Minneapolis and St Paul as well as first ring suburbs, the MN Attorney General race may be the one contest where Republicans have a legit chance to emerge victorious. This is especially in light of the likely GOP gubernatorial candidate (Scott Jensen) putting all his campaign eggs in the COVID basket. If the pandemic continues to wane like it has over the past year, COVID-19 may well be a non-issue by November. However, given the current climate, violent crime will likely get worse. It's unfortunate that it took sheer ineptitude and incompetence from our legal system for a Republican to finally get serious consideration for the state's "top cop, " but it is what it is. Let's not blow it.
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