Minnesota GOP meets to pick new party chair in hopes of turning party around

Minnesota Republicans meet Saturday in St. Cloud to pick a new state party chair as the GOP gears up for a busy, important election year featuring contests for governor, U.S. Senate and as many as five competitive U.S. House races.

After years in which persistent debt problems diluted the party's strength, activists hope the GOP can play a more muscular role in a 2018 election that gives Republicans an opportunity to take full control of Minnesota's government for the first time since 1970.

Current Chairman Keith Downey, who worked to reduce the party's debt, is not running for re-election and may run for governor.

Deputy Chairman Chris Fields, former state Sen. David Hann, Republican National Committeeman Rick Rice and businesswoman Jennifer Carnahan are vying for the top spot in a race that has become increasingly nasty. The winner will be declared after a candidate has amassed a majority of about 350 voting delegates to the party's State Central Committee.

All the candidates pledged to improve fundraising and messaging to help raise the party's profile with voters. Minnesota Republicans had a good year in 2014 and a great year in 2016, but outside groups, candidates and legislative caucuses — rather than the party — performed much of the key fundraising, research, communications and field organizing that helped deliver those victories.

"The party mission will be to define ourselves, define the Democrats and deliver a powerful message," Fields said.

He summed up his strategic approach of presenting simple, clear messages to voters: "The bumper sticker wins," Fields said, citing "Make America Great Again" and "Hope and Change" as effective messages in recent years.

Fields, who retired after 22 years in the Marine Corps, said he brings a wide array of skills to politics from his military background, including logistics, organization and communication.

But Downey recently sent a sharply critical letter to the party's nominations committee, outlining at great length a series of Fields' alleged errors in judgment and competency. Fields declined to directly respond to the letter but said there's "not much factual" content in it.

As Senate minority leader in 2015-16, Hann led Republicans to an unexpected Senate majority last year. In a paradoxical twist, he lost his own re-election. His one-point loss must be viewed in the context of President Donald Trump's paltry 36 percent support in the suburban Hennepin County district, Hann said.

Anonymous e-mails in recent days have attacked Hann for being insufficiently supportive of Trump.

Hann called the attacks "gutless" and pointed out that he never wavered in his support for Trump, even if the president wasn't his top choice among Republican candidates.

Rice, the party's national committeeman since last year, tried to put the party's fundraising potential in perspective: More than 1.3 million Minnesotans voted for Trump last year. "Do you think we could find 5,000 of those people to kick in $10 a month?"

The semiretired insurance and finance professional said the party would need to do a better job with big donors, too, noting the DFL's advantage in collecting massive donations.

Rice said he would also help the party better coordinate its message with elected officials.

Carnahan was an unsuccessful state Senate candidate in Minneapolis last year, an uphill fight for a Republican in the deeply DFL city.

Carnahan, a South Korean adoptee, said she provides a fresh energy and look to a party that has struggled to win votes among urban voters and people of color.

"The role of chair is to be someone who can manage a complex organization, raise money and build a strategic plan to get our candidates elected in 2018 and beyond and ultimately grow the base of the party," she said.

"I know brand marketing and messaging," she said.

Party insiders and the candidates say many delegates remain uncommitted and are waiting until the election Saturday to make up their minds.