After a tumultuous year, Minnesota Republicans will gather in St. Cloud on Friday to bind their wounds, endorse a U.S. Senate candidate and hope that the internal fights that have been gnawing at the party for months don't spill out into an ugly convention battle.
"Just like Thanksgiving dinner with the family, it will end with hugs and smiles or people ... wondering who threw the turkey at Uncle Bob," said Jennifer DeJournett, a Republican activist and president of VOICES of Conservative Women.
The Minnesota Republican Party is teetering on the same edge of chaos that sparked a fist fight at an Oklahoma party convention and jeers at an Arizona gathering addressed by presidential candidate Mitt Romney's son. That last incident moved national Republicans to create an organization to bypass the Nevada GOP.
Underlying the tensions is libertarian-minded presidential candidate Ron Paul, whose followers are fighting for dominance of the party that bypassed their hero for the more mainstream Romney.
Paul supporters have already flexed their might in the state's Republican Party. They claim 20 of the 24 national delegates already selected at local Republican gatherings. They ousted a GOP insider from the party's ruling body and thwarted some sitting lawmakers' attempts at party positions.
While Paul has suspended his presidential bid, he's made clear that his fight in the party is far from over and that the next front is in Minnesota. The 12-term Texas congressman will address the convention Friday night. It's a privilege he was denied four years ago and supporters have stewed about the slight ever since.
"Starting with the Minnesota State Convention this weekend, our movement has an opportunity to secure more delegates, take control of more local and state parties ... to achieve lasting victory in the years to come," said John Tate, Paul's campaign manager.
A few nervous Republicans
