House Speaker Lisa Demuth maintains a significant lead in the Republican gubernatorial preference poll that was taken Tuesday night at precinct caucus events held across Minnesota.
So far, 96% of GOP precinct caucus sites have reported results for the non-binding straw poll. That poll gave Republicans across the state an opportunity to decide who they would like to see as their candidate for governor this year.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Demuth had 5,643 votes out of the 17,646 votes reported. In second place was businessman Kendall Qualls who had 4,505 votes. MyPillow founder Mike Lindell was in third with 3,085 votes, and former State Sen. Scott Jensen was in fourth with 1,136 votes. Jensen was the 2022 Republican nominee for governor.
The other GOP candidates all have fewer than 900 votes.
While the rest of the results are expected later today, Demuth’s lead is unlikely to change. As such, Demuth will likely be considered the frontrunner to receive the GOP endorsement and nomination for governor of Minnesota later this year.
Even before her lead in the poll had increased to more than 1,000 votes, Demuth put out a statement saying, “Thank you to the thousands of grassroots conservatives who came out to caucus tonight and delivered an excellent result for our campaign — this is just the first step in the process, but tonight shows that momentum is behind the Demuth-Wilson ticket.”
Ryan Wilson, the 2022 Republican nominee for state auditor, is Demuth’s running mate in this year’s gubernatorial election.
“Over the next several weeks I will continue to travel the state and converse with delegates to earn their support leading up to the Republican Party of Minnesota’s statewide endorsement convention,” Demuth added. “With more cash on hand than any candidate in the race, we are ready to win the endorsement and beat Amy Klobuchar this November.”
After Demuth’s apparent win in the preference poll, the DFL issued a statement saying Demuth “has fully embraced the most destructive Trump policies, from the tariffs that have devastated Minnesota’s working families to Operation Metro Surge.”
Meanwhile, the Qualls campaign put out a statement which said the results of last night’s gubernatorial preference poll made the Republican race for governor a two-person contest between Qualls and Demuth.
Additionally, the Qualls campaign touted their candidate as a “political outsider” while describing Demuth as “political insider.”
“It’s been nearly twenty years since we won the Governor’s race in Minnesota and sourcing candidates from the legislature has yielded Republicans with the same results—failure,” Qualls said in a statement.
Precinct caucus meetings and party endorsements
In addition to supporting their preferred candidates for governor at Tuesday night’s precinct caucus meetings, Republicans and Democrats used the small, separate gatherings to begin the process of organizing for the upcoming political year.
At those caucus meetings, Minnesotans of both political parties elected party delegates and drafted party platforms. In the weeks and months to come, both parties will host local conventions to endorse state legislative candidates and congressional candidates.
Eventually, each party will host a statewide political convention later in the year. At those conventions, Republicans and Democrats will endorse candidates for governor, attorney general, U.S. Senate, and other statewide offices.
The DFL state convention will be held in Rochester beginning on May 29 and concluding on May 31. The Minnesota Republican Party’s state convention will be held in Duluth, starting on May 29 and concluding on May 31.
Party endorsements, while impactful, do not decide who the party’s nominee will be for a given office. Ultimately, the Aug. 11 state primary election will decide which candidates receive their party’s nomination and advance to the Fall general election.
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.
