I'll start off by saying this. If statewide turnout in this year's Minnesota primary elections is any indication, the Republican Party of Minnesota's slogan of "Make MN Red" is pure fantasy. I get that Democrats had competitive primaries in the gubernatorial and Attorney General races and thus their voters were more motivated. But the Republicans also had a very competitive race on the gov side yet DFL turnout was still nearly double.
Speaking of the MNGOP gov race, I'll admit that I was not only surprised that Jeff Johnson emerged victorious but that it was nearly a double digit win over the heavily funded Tim Pawlenty. I hope I'm wrong here but I felt as though T-Paw was the most viable GOP gubernatorial candidate who could win statewide. Johnson has done his best over the past couple of months to assuage concerns of those who doubt he can perform any better than in 2014 when he was defeated by a vulnerable incumbent in what was a Republican wave year. Unfortunately the lack of a Pawlenty candidacy likely means very few national resources pouring into Minnesota. I guess Johnson is going to have to bring out the "scrappy fighter" we were promised would show up in the '14 general election (but rarely emerged), especially against turncoat Tim Walz.
Speaking of Walz, he soundly defeated DFL-endorsed candidate Erin Muprhy for the Democrat nod. This is basically a replay of the 2010 DFL cycle when the endorsed female gov candidate (back then it was Margaret Anderson Kelliher) was defeated by a male candidate (Mark Dayton) in the primary. For all the virtue signaling leftists engage in over the MNGOP not fielding female gov candidates, Dems seem to allow women to touch the proverbial glass ceiling but not actually break through it.
In other noteworthy races:
- Frequent guest and longtime friend of the Northern Alliance Radio Network Karin Housley cruised to the GOP nominee in the special election for the U.S. Senate vacated by Al Franken. She'll oppose interim senator Tina Smith, who easily dispatched five other DFLers.
- Despite serious allegations of domestic abuse swirling around him, Keith Ellison cruised to the DFL nomination for MN Attorney General. I imagine that even if he didn't already have significant early votes banked, he would have won regardless. However, it doesn't appear Ellison's most vocal accuser, Karen Monahan, is going to be silent so we'll see how this plays out over the next few months. If Ellison remains the Dem candidate, will Republican Doug Wardlow put up a formidable enough challenge for an office the GOP hasn't held in about a half century? Now that incumbent AG Lori Swanson is not running again, a prominent national Republican AG group will take a keen interest in this race. No question Wardlow will need all the help he can get.
- One silver lining for the GOP is that Republican turnout in Congressional Districts One and Eight (both held by Dems who are not seeking reelection) at least rivaled that of Democrats. Both CDs were dominated by Donald Trump in 2016, so both GOP candidates (Jim Hagedorn in One, Pete Stauber in Eight) better hope for similar Republican turnout in November. It will definitely be a much taller task given that Trump is not on the ballot and Dems definitely have the motivation to get to the polls.
- The six-way DFL primary in CD5 basically determines who the next representative will be. As expected, current MN state representative Ilhan Omar emerged victorious, which means she will be the first female Muslim member of Congress come January 2019.
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