House Speaker Lisa Demuth to run in GOP primary for governor
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House Speaker Lisa Demuth will run in an August primary election for the Republican Party nomination for governor, reversing course from an earlier pledge to leave the race if not endorsed.
Demuth filed her paperwork with the secretary of state’s office then held a rally on the Capitol steps, surrounded by supporters waving signs and wearing big-letter “DEMUTH” hats.
“Minnesotans are really welcoming this opportunity, though unexpected, to have a voice in the process,” she said, describing how fielded messages urging her to go forward.
“We will win that primary,” she said. “Our eyes are on November.”
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Tuesday’s announcement comes days after GOP delegates endorsed businessman Kendall Qualls at the party’s convention in Duluth. On Monday, Republican Party Chair Alex Plechash released Republican candidates for governor from prior pledges after the party experienced technical issues and hourslong delays with voting in the race.
Qualls accused her of putting herself ahead of the party’s well being.
“She is putting vanity and political ambitions ahead of giving Republicans their best chance in decades to elect a conservative governor,” Qualls said in a written statement.
Demuth made her announcement on the final day of candidate filing.
Her entry into the primary creates more uncertainty for Republicans as they vie for an open governor’s office — one they haven’t held since early 2011. Qualls and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell are already on the primary ballot along with a few other lesser-known candidates.
Demuth said encouragement from donors, pleading by supporters and a permission slip from the state party chair contributed to her decision to remain in the governor's race. In the most-recent campaign finance reports, she had the most money of any GOP candidate and there’s an outside group called Restore Sanity that has been airing comic book-themed commercials on her behalf, casting her as a state government superhero.
“We are well positioned to defeat the DFL machine here in the state of Minnesota, much more well positioned financially and going forward than any other candidate,” Demuth said.
In giving unendorsed candidates a pass to carry on, Plechash said it was “because of the unusual circumstances and the confusion caused by the disruption” over voting devices that were called into question.
“Those candidates may make their own decision about whether to continue their campaign to a primary,” he said in a written statement. But, he added, “Only our endorsed candidate for governor, Kendall Qualls, will receive the full support, resources and organizational backing of the state party.”
Qualls said he feels confident about prevailing in August. But he slammed Demuth for reneging on the endorsement pledge.
“The sad part is that when we win in August, we will have wasted time and money fighting amongst ourselves to come to the same conclusion: victory for our campaign,” he said.
Former Minnesota Republican Party Chair Ron Carey told MPR News’ Morning Edition that Demuth’s entry into the race could “muddy the waters” but likely wouldn’t knock out the value of the endorsement. Republican primary voters in Minnesota have historically stood by the candidate that delegates endorsed.
“We fought very diligently to make sure that endorsement was the gold standard that candidates would fight for that, and we wouldn't have these battles dragging out into August for the primary,” Carey said of his time as chair from 2005 to 2009. “I would hope that we could have a situation where we could start having unity, because it's going to be an uphill battle to take on Amy Klobuchar in November, and we need to have all Republicans pulling in the same direction.”
Former state Sen. Dave Osmek said the endorsement couldn’t be trusted due to issues with electronic voting devices used at the convention.
“This endorsement process was absolutely, positively corrupted,” Osmek, a former campaign adviser to Qualls, said. “The fruit, which is the endorsed candidate, is coming from a poison tree. I'm not mincing words.”
Osmek said Demuth could buck the trend among GOP voters and win the party’s nomination.
“People who understand that experience and leadership, proven leadership matters, are going to go with Lisa Demuth,” he said.
Klobuchar, a U.S. senator, won the DFL Party’s endorsement at the state convention in Rochester. There is also a cluster of candidates with minor campaign operations running in the DFL primary.
Gov. Tim Walz dropped his bid for a third term in January.
DFLers have won the past four governor’s races in Minnesota. Tim Pawlenty was the last Republican to hold the office and won his second term in 2006 — marking the last time the GOP won a statewide race in Minnesota.
