The GOP nominated House Speaker Lisa Demuth for governor and former NFL sideline broadcaster Michele Tafoya for U.S. Senate, passing over firebrands in both races who electrified the party’s base but also carried serious political baggage.
The results were a relief for party leaders in Minnesota and Washington, D.C., as the GOP avoided polarizing candidates who might have fumbled a rare chance to beat Democrats in left-leaning Minnesota. In choosing Demuth, Republican voters went against the advice of President Donald Trump, who endorsed MyPillow founder Mike Lindell in July.
Even with Trump’s imprimatur, Republican insiders feared candidates such as Lindell would distract general election voters from fraud scandals in social services programs — the main line of attack against Democrats this year — as the party seeks to break a two-decade losing streak in statewide elections.
In the gubernatorial race, it remains a longshot that Demuth can topple Democrat nominee Amy Klobuchar, whom I believe is one of the top three most popular politicians in Minnesota history. But what Demuth's candidacy does ensure is the Minnesota Legislature remains in play for the GOP. Had Mike Lindell been the Republican candidate for gov, not only would he have lost (in the immortal words of his pal Trump) "bigly," he also would have been a drag on down ballot races for the party, particularly House and Senate contests. As such, another DFL trifecta would commence, effectively finishing off any chance Minnesota has to remain a desirous place to live. But with Demuth having shown tremendous leadership chops as Speaker of the MN House the past two legislative sessions, that will be a great asset as the GOP needs a net gain of only one seat in each chamber of the Legislature in order to obtain complete control.
Even though Democrat US Senate candidate (and current Lt Gov) Peggy Flanagan is a complete kook, Tafoya, despite putting forth eye-popping fundraising numbers not seen by a MNGOP candidate maybe ever, is also in an uphill battle. But her candidacy strengthens the Republicans' ability to maintain their majority in the Senate. Reason being is the Dems need a net gain of four seats to take the majority. However, if they have to defend two seats (Minnesota and Michigan) which have been reliably blue for quite some time, that's less resources they'll have in attempts to seize Ohio, Iowa, Alaska and Maine (as of now, I believe Democrats already have North Carolina in the bag and are remarkably in a solid position to take Texas). Even before Tafoya and Flanagan won their respective primaries, a hypothetical matchup between the two showed basically a dead heat.
While this cycle absolutely favors Democrats given it's the second midterm in a Donald Trump presidency, Minnesota may be somewhat of an outlier due to the rampant defrauding of taxpayer funds under the DFL's watch. Any Republican candidate has plausible deniability due to the fact they haven't held any meaningful statewide office since 2010. As such, you absolutely can't underestimate independent voters conveying some semblance of "Well, these Republicans certainly can't be any worse than what we've had." That isn't necessarily all that inspiring and not something that can be touted on GOP candidates' campaign literature. But it's a step in the right direction.
On to November!
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