Republicans re-elect Carnahan as party chair
Republican activists on Saturday elected Jennifer Carnahan to serve a second term as chair of the state party and lead them into the 2020 election.
Carnahan faced two challengers from within the party ranks, Monti Moreno and Becky Hall, but she decisively won with 69 percent of the vote on the first ballot. The chair needed a simple majority to win the race.
As chair, Carnahan said she's helped chip away at state party debt and led a "massive" ground game that turned out more Republican voters in the last midterm election than ever before. But she also looked ahead to the 2020 election, when the entire Minnesota Legislature is on the ballot.
"We are at a pivotal point in our nation’s history, up against a dangerous, socialist agenda that threatens the very fabric of our nation and the heartbeat of the American dream," she told the meeting.
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Carnahan has had a rapid rise in Republican Party politics. She attended her first Republican caucus meeting in 2016 and was recruited to run for a Minneapolis seat in the state Senate that fall.
She lost in the strong DFL district, but the following year, she emerged as a candidate for chair of the Republican Party. She surprised many when she won that race, defeating three other candidates, including former Senate Minority Leader David Hann.
Since becoming chair, Carnahan married Jim Hagedorn, now a Congressman serving in the 1st District. He introduced her ahead of her speech Saturday.
Carnahan's first stint as party chair came in the wake of the 2016 election, when Donald Trump drove out Republican voters and propelled new activists into the party who were hungry for a fresh face to lead their efforts. Trump nearly won Minnesota that fall, coming closer than any Republican since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
But the 2018 election was a mixed bag for the GOP. Democrats decisively regained control of the state House and swept statewide offices, including electing DFL Gov. Tim Walz to a four-year term. They also lost two congressional seats in the state’s suburbs, but they managed to flip two rural congressional districts that has been in DFL hands.
In 2020, Republicans are defending a thin, two-seat majority in the state Senate and will attempt to take back the state House in a year where Trump is also on the ballot.
One of Carnahan's challengers, Duluth activist Becky Hall, said the party needs to start fundraising and messaging now to position itself for the next election. The Republican Party has struggled to retire debt that first surfaced after the 2010 election.
"We cannot endure another two years of Republican losses, and another two years of missed messaging opportunities and another two years of not paying off our debts," Hall said.
The meeting was also a chance for Republican party leaders to try and energize activists ahead of the election.
Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, who also serves as chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he sees momentum shifting to favor of Trump and the GOP.
"Republicans here in Minnesota and across the country must lock arms and unite to fight the real threat to our nation and to our freedom, we cannot allow minor differences and petty disagreements to divide us," he said. "This time the stakes are much higher and the consequences are much greater if we do not succeed on our mission."