MINNEAPOLIS — Jennifer Carnahan has served as State Party Chair of the Minnesota Republican Party for two-and-a-half-months, but is making waves nationally.
On Tuesday, Carnahan, was part of a select group of state party chairs from around the country that was invited to the White House to talk about strategy in the upcoming elections in 2018 and 2020.
“The fact that the White House invited us is big,” Carnahan told Alpha News. “We’ve never been at the top, we’ve been at the middle. Now we’ve been made a priority.”
Carnahan explained the nine state chairs invited represented states considered as prime targets for the party in 2018 and 2020, with all of the states having a senate race and governor’s race in 2018.
It was a whirlwind day for Carnahan, who met with Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Vice President Mike Pence, and President Donald Trump.
Carnahan told Alpha News about her time in the oval office with Trump and Pence. The group of nine spent an hour in the Oval Office. They spent 40 minutes speaking with Trump and Pence on various topics, such as their states, the landscape for elections in 2018 and 2020, health care, and how the states can provide support for the Trump administration and vice versa.
“The President and Vice-President both said that they will come to Minnesota,” Carnahan told Alpha News.
Minnesota, which has been a Democratic stronghold for decades, has largely been ignored by the national conservative outlets as being too blue to save. However, Carnahan told Alpha News that a recent meeting with the Republican National Committee could see money from the around the country flooding into the state.
“The RNC said that they have confidence in Minnesota,” Carnahan told Alpha News. “We want to invest.”
Such an investment could make Minnesota more competitive in 2018. At a recent town hall, Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, who also serves as Deputy Chair for the Democratic National Committee, has also promised to bring DNC financing into the state, stating that they have been ignored nationally for too long.
Carnahan, who described her White House experience as “incredible,” is focused on electing Republicans in Minnesota, by striving to make the party inclusive and transparent, she has big ideas for the future of the party.
Minnesota’s gubernatorial race has been placed in the toss-up category by the Cook Political Report in June, and congressional races in districts one, two, seven, and eight are considered as potentials to flip in 2018.
Preya Samsundar
Preya Samsundar was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities this Spring with a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, with a minor in Strategic Communications. Preya has previously worked on several State Campaign Races.
