Republicans are in Duluth today to kick-off their state endorsing convention. Over the next two days, elected Republican delegates will pile into the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center to conduct party business and endorse candidates for statewide offices.
The first day of the convention began Friday at 10:00am. The endorsement process will begin later today. During the convention, delegates will endorse candidates for U.S. Senate, state auditor, secretary of state, attorney general, and governor.
Updates from the first day of the convention will be posted here.
— 1:10pm —
The convention just voted down a motion to move the U.S. Senate endorsement to immediately before the governor endorsement, which is scheduled to occur tomorrow.
As such, the U.S. Senate endorsement will occur today after the attorney general endorsement.
— 1:00pm —
In a voice vote, the convention voted down the motion to eliminate the use of electronic clickers. As such, electronic balloting will be used.
— 12:47pm —
Delegates are now considering a motion to eliminate electronic balloting from the convention.
— 12:42pm —
Convention Chair Nadeau has announced that the voting card problem has been resolved. All eight congressional districts appear to have gone through the process at the teller’s table. The convention has been in a recess for over an hour. That recess is expected to end soon.
— 11:37am —
Nadeau returned to the podium to say that some alternates were provided voting cards when they should not have been. He directed the chairs of CD2 to go to the teller’s table and said the convention will hear from speakers while the problem is being worked out.
— 11:32am —
Convention chair State Rep. Danny Nadeau is back at the podium. He said there is some kind of problem that needs to be worked out. He directed all BPOU chairs in CD1 to go to the teller’s table. He also asked the chair of CD1 to join them.
Nadeau announced that each congressional district will take turns going to the teller’s table. He did not say specifically what the problem was. Because each congressional district needs to take turns going to the front, the convention could be delayed by an hour or more.
— 11:11am —
Two delegates have now asked the convention to take a break because there are still many delegates who have not gotten their credentials yet.
Convention chair State Rep. Danny Nadeu has just announced a 10 minute break.
— 11:09am —
A quorum is present. The delegates have just voted to move the attorney general endorsement to be the first endorsement of the day.
— 10:55am —
Candidate ads for attorney general candidate Ron Schutz and U.S. Senate candidate Mark York have played. The ads are playing in between convention remarks and business.
The convention is being chaired by State Rep. Danny Nadeau and State Rep. Kristin Knudsen. Nadeau announced that a quorum is present.
— 10:43am —
Delegates are seated, and the convention played ads on the big screens for U.S. Senate candidates Tom Weiler and Michele Tafoya. More candidate ads are expected to be played throughout the convention.
State Rep. Kristin Robbins, a former candidate for governor, is addressing the crowd now. She is a delegate to the convention. During her speech, Robbins noted that the endorsement for governor will not occur until tomorrow.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
