MN-Gov: Former state Sen. Scott Jensen, who is one of the most far-right GOP candidates for governor, won the important state party endorsement by defeating healthcare executive Kendall Qualls 65-33 on the ninth and final ballot at Saturday’s convention. As we recently discussed, only once has a candidate for statewide office over the last 30 years has lost the endorsement but won their primary, but it still remains to be seen if Jensen will have any serious opposition in the August contest to take on Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.
What we do know, though, is that at least two of the five Republicans who were running against Jensen have dropped out. Lexington Mayor Mike Murphy, who took third before he was eliminated after the sixth ballot, quickly threw his support behind Jensen, a move that likely helped the second-place candidate surge past Qualls. Qualls, for his part, put out a statement the day after his defeat making it clear his campaign was over.
Former Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek’s camp, though, responded to Saturday’s events by saying, “Rich and his campaign team are evaluating all options for moving forward to beat Walz in November.” Stanek, citing injuries from a car accident last month, didn’t end up attending the convention, and his name was not placed before delegates.
The remaining candidates, state Sen. Paul Gazelka and dermatologist Neil Shah, respectively backed Qualls and Murphy at the convention, and we’re awaiting word what they’ll do now; both men previously pledged to leave the race if someone else won the endorsement. These candidates, as well as anyone who wants to jump in late, have until the May 31 filing deadline to make up their minds.
A SurveyUSA poll released Thursday showed Walz leading Jensen 44-39, which was his smallest advantage against any of the six Republicans who were tested, but Democrats are hoping that the one-time state senator’s fringe views would make him a weak candidate. Jensen, who worked as a family physician, was banned from TikTok last year for spreading lies about the pandemic, offerings that included videos captioned, "Family doctor EXPOSES double masking craziness," and "You are being played (by the CDC and WHO)."
The candidate last month also pandered to Big Lie supporters when he called for jailing Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon, saying, “And Steve Simon, you maybe better check out to see if you look good in stripes, because you've gotten away with too much, too long under [Minnesota Attorney General Keith] Ellison, and the hammer's coming down.” Jensen kept at this at Saturday’s convention as well with a video where, after he claimed “dead people voted,” once again called for imprisoning Simon. Jensen also used that presentation to once again suggest that COVID death tolls were inflated and to promise to commute the sentence of Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center police officer convicted of killing Daunte Wright at a traffic stop.