GOP Chairman Keith Downey attacks deputy Chris Fields in run-up to election

Days before state Republican Party leaders meet to elect new leaders, current Chairman Keith Downey has fired off a blistering letter questioning the judgment and competency of Chris Fields, the deputy chair who is running to replace Downey.

Downey is not running for re-election after four years as party chairman, and has said he is considering a bid for governor next year.

But the letter and voluminous attachments — sent to the nominations committee of the party's State Central Committee — make it unusually clear that Downey does not want Fields to prevail in the four-way race to lead the party in Minnesota.

"After getting significantly behind on 4 out of 5 of his agreed-upon 2016 responsibilities, he refused to provide any kind of plan for the areas he was responsible for, eventually had those responsibilities removed from him, and yet insisted on continuing to be fully compensated," Downey wrote of Fields, one of a litany of criticisms he unfurled in the letter.

Fields did not respond to the letter's allegations directly, but said in an interview that he has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Republican campaigns.

"There is not much factual about that memo," Fields said.

Republicans meet Saturday in St. Cloud to elect party leaders for the 2018 election cycle, in which the GOP will try to break a more than decadelong losing streak in statewide races, and has an opportunity to achieve complete control of state government for the first time in many decades. Republicans also have their eye on capturing two or perhaps even three congressional seats now held by DFLers, in districts that President Donald Trump won last year.

The Downey letter, which party insiders say is an extraordinary intervention in the race to succeed him, details what it calls inappropriate correspondence and public statements by Fields. It also alleges that he leaked party financial information and failed in his attempts at organizing and fundraising.

Downey declined to comment, calling it an internal personnel matter.

The letter lists an array of infractions: Fields publicly criticized U.S. Rep. Jason Lewis, a Republican from the Second District who was the party's endorsed candidate last year. He found himself in a distracting social media spat after comments he made upon the death of actor Robin Williams.

In August of 2016, Downey wrote Fields a memo on the money he had raised and his compensation. Fields had raised $37,000 — a small sum in light of the millions raised for Minnesota campaigns — while receiving about $13,000 in pay. Downey and party officials repeatedly sought to force Fields to meet performance metrics, but he failed to do so, according to the correspondence.

After Fields made a presentation to a party committee about voter trends, Downey wrote to him, "Do NOT continue to disseminate your analysis," attacking his data and conclusions as flawed.

"I'm a black Republican in Minnesota, so I've been called a whole lot of names," Fields said. "I've got pretty thick skin. God bless him," he said of Downey. "I wish him the best."

The tension between Downey and Fields — who was elected deputy in 2014 — is evident in an e-mail Fields sent to Downey and another party official in March: "No, I am not threatening acts of violence. I am pleading with you though, with tears in my eyes; do not to get involved in the Chair's race. It will not work out well."

That e-mail is included as an attachment to the Downey letter that went out to the GOP Nominations Committee, which will present to the delegates Saturday a determination about whether or not the candidates for party offices are qualified.

"I'm pretty comfortable with my relationship with the grass roots," Fields said. "And they know where I've been on the issues."