GOP legislators weigh how support for Trump might help or hurt them

As state Rep. Sarah Anderson, R-Plymouth, knocked on doors in her district Saturday, the furor over Donald Trump's on-tape comments talking in crude terms about women gnawed at her.

So Anderson dashed off a statement declaring she wouldn't support the Republican presidential candidate.

"He has shown he is not fit to lead time and again," Anderson wrote in the statement, which was also critical of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

"I have to tell you why we are even talking about that locker-room talk from 11 years ago, when I think the press has spent more time on that than they have with the blood on Hillary's hand from Benghazi," said Ruud. "I find it amazing we are even having that conversation."

Anderson, a fifth-term lawmaker, is worried that voter turnout will slip because of the unpopularity of both presidential candidates, affecting more than just the race they're in.

"It gives everybody a bad taste in their mouths. It certainly reflects poorly on all candidates who run for office, whether you are running for city council, school board, the state House or Congress," Anderson said. "These are public servants and these two on the top of the ticket do not reflect what we expect of public servants that are making huge decisions for the lives of everybody."

Republican legislators doing the Trump calculus have to figure out whether they gain or lose more by distancing themselves from him.

Ruud said Republicans who rushed to separate themselves from Trump last weekend were making a rash decision. She said the stakes of the election are too high to cede the White House, with the next president likely to get one or more appointments to a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump has apologized for what he called the "locker-room banter" on display in the video. Ruud isn't surprised by the skittish Republican response.

"For me, all of the people that were solidly behind Donald Trump before are solidly behind him now," she said. "I think the people, the establishment Republicans who decided to jump ship, were never with him in the first place. Those are all the people that said, 'Well, maybe, sorta, kinda.'"

Ruud is in a different place, however, than some legislators from the suburbs. In her central Minnesota district, Trump's unorthodox candidacy has been a hit.

"We're just down-home folks. We love Donald Trump's candor. We know he's not a professional politician," Ruud said. "I think the more the establishment pushes against Donald Trump, the more that the people in my district will stand up for him."

After the debate Sunday, Daudt tweeted that Trump had exceeded his expectations with his performance. A phone message left Monday wasn't immediately returned.

Senate Minority Leader David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, has previously pledged support for the Republican nominee but hasn't commented on Trump lately.