At their state convention in Duluth today, Republicans endorse their candidate for governor — or they might not. Jeff Johnson is the front runner of those seeking the endorsement, but because former Governor Tim Pawlenty is skipping the convention and going directly to the primary, some delegates prefer *no* endorsement. Johnson says it’s a “pretty small’ number. “I know there are some Pawlenty folks here who want to kinda throw a monkey wrench into things ’cause that’s the strategy, but overall I think people want to leave here with an endorsed candidate, whether it’s me or someone else,” Johnson says.
But former state Representative Phil Krinkie says there are “a lot of folks” at the convention who support Pawlenty. “Nothing to disparage Jeff Johnson, the other candidates, but still we’ve got a proven winner in Tim Pawlenty without question,” he says.
Minnesota Republican Party Chair Jennifer Carnahan discounts the possibility of no endorsement. She says, “In the Republican Party of Minnesota, there is only one time in modern history when an unendorsed candidate has beat an endorsed candidate in a primary for statewide office, and that was Governor Arne Carlson — he was already a sitting governor.”
House Speaker Kurt Daudt says he wishes former Governor Pawlenty would have come to the Republican convention. He argues even if Pawlenty didn’t get the endorsement because he entered the race so late, “I don’t know that that matters all that much. I just think the governor should have come here to the convention. I guess I didn’t really talk to him about his decision not to.”