MINNEAPOLIS, Minn — The race for State Chair of the Minnesota Republican Party (MNGOP) has found four highly qualified yet very different candidates who are campaigning around the State.
This week, Alpha News MN will share individual profiles of each candidate. The candidates agreed to a sit down off camera interview where they shared their experience and their vision for the future of the Republican Party.
David Hann
Former State Senator David Hann is the last of the four candidates to announce his candidacy for State Chair in mid-January after losing his Senate seat in November to a high school teacher.
Hann has had an illustrious career. He graduated from Lincoln High School in Bloomington before receiving his Bachelors in Religious Studies. He also attended the University of Chicago Divinity School. He was a member of the U.S. Army serving in Vietnam. He spent 25 years working for E.A. Sween-a national food distribution company. Hann served three terms on the Eden Prairie School Board before being elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2002.
During his time as a legislator, Hann served on multiple committees including, the Rules and Administrations Committee, Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, Education Committee, and Finance Committee.
Hann has four adult children and has been married to his wife Anne for 35 years.
Chris Fields
Current Deputy Chair of the Minnesota Republican Party, Chris Fields announced his intentions to run for State Chair at the MNGOP State Central meeting in December.
Fields is best known for his efforts to challenge Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn) as a congressional candidate in 2010.
Born and raised in New York, Fields was the valedictorian when he graduated from Bronx Regional High School. He then completed his Bachelors in Business Management at Park University in Missouri. He served in the United States Marine Corp. for 21 years. Fields ran a tough race against Ellison receiving 25.2% of the vote.He also served as the Secretary of the MNGOP and Co-Chair of the Elephant Club.
Fields has one child with his wife Christa.
Rick Rice
Rick Rice is the Minnesota Chairman for the Republican National Committee. Rice was elected during the State Party Convention in May 2016 and publically announced his intention to run through a MinnPost article in early January.
Rice is involved in everything related to Minnesota republican politics. Rice also serves as the MNGOP Finance Chair, Co-chair of the Elephant Club, and an avid boots-on-the-ground activist for the Trump team in Minnesota.
He was a candidate for House District 44B in 2010, but lost to his democratic challenger Ryan Winkler.
He graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a degree in Business and has worked for Northwestern Mutual for the past 30 years.
Rice has two adult children with his wife Nancy.
Jennifer Carnahan
Quickly rising to fame in the 2016 election cycle, Jennifer Carnahan is a political newcomer.
Attending her first caucus this election cycle, Carnahan is determined to make a name for herself in Minnesota’s Republican Party.
She is a businesswoman – owning her own clothing boutique called Primrose Park. Carnahan, born in South Korea, was adopted at a young age and graduated from the Syracuse University with degrees in Broadcast Journalism and Finance. Carnahan worked for big name sports teams like the Timberwolves, the LA Angels, and Florida Marlins and corporate giants like McDonald’s, General Mills, and Ecolab.
Carnahan served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and ran for State Senate in 2016. Though she lost to DFL incumbent Bobby Joe Champion, she did much better than other Republicans in the past by door knocking every home in her district.
Carnahan is meticulous, having distributed a 40-page plan of how she plans to turn the MNGOP around.
Four candidates very different in experience and personality. Subscribe to Alpha News MN as we introduce you to these four candidates.
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.
