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ST. CLOUD -- Jennifer Carnahan, whose abandonment as a baby in South Korea led to an upbringing and business career in Minnesota, will lead the state Republican Party into a high-stakes election year.

The new party boss, chosen Saturday at the State Central Committee meeting in downtown St. Cloud, will be tasked with chipping away at nagging party debt and harnessing energy on the right after Donald Trump's presidential win.

"When we are a strong party, we will take Minnesota by storm," Carnahan told delegates after claiming a fourth-ballot victory.

The 2018 election is chock full of opportunity and challenge for Republicans. Minnesota voters will elect a U.S. senator, a new governor, three other constitutional officers, eight members of Congress and control of the state House. But Republicans haven't won a statewide race since 2006.

Carnahan, 40, entered the race as something of a dark horse. She's never held elective office or a prominent party role as her three challengers -- Deputy Chairman Chris Fields, former Senate Minority Leader David Hann and Republican National Committeeman Rick Rice.

In fact, she attended her first party caucus only last year. Carnahan would run unsuccessfully for a state Senate seat in Minneapolis in November and also served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

She said her could leverage her own experience as she reaches out to Republican voters brought into the fold by now-President Trump.

"If people see that we're the party where someone like myself, who came in as an activist just a year ago and now was just elected state party chair, how does that not inspire people to get involved?" Carnahan said.

She told delegates she would bring a fresh, innovative voice to the party and said they shouldn't dwell on her status as a relative newcomer.

"With me at the helm of brand strategy, the Democrats will not know what's hits them before it’s too late,” she said.

She shared a personal story of being left outside a South Korea hospital as a newborn. She was adopted by a Minnesota family. She went on to lead a career in corporate marketing and later launched a retail boutique.

Carnahan said she would lean on party veterans as she comes aboard.

"One of the thing I'm smart enough is I don't know what i don't know," she said. "Our party is best when we draw on the strengths of everybody."

Her victory saw her come from behind. Fields led on the first two ballots, with Hann also in contention. As Rice failed to qualify for the second ballot and Hann faded, Carnahan's support surged. She topped Fields when it was just the two of them on the fourth ballot.

David Pascoe, who has long involvement in the state party, was elected deputy chairman.

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Brian Bakst

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Minnesota Republicans chose businesswoman Jennifer Carnahan to steer party into 2018.

Carnahan chosen as new state GOP chair

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