HOPKINS, MN — With just days before the August 9th primary, it seems that Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt is stepping on some activists’ toes in Senate District 48. A major primary race to watch is between Kris Newcomer and Republican-endorsed candidate Mary Shapiro.
As reported by Alpha News, Kris Newcomer stepped up to the plate to run as a Republican in SD 48A.
A party officer with knowledge of the situation and who wishes to remain anonymous told Alpha News that Newcomer was chosen by the House Republican Committee (HRC) after SD 48 failed to endorse a candidate at their convention earlier this year. Shapiro, who was on the fence, decided to jump into the race and an endorsing convention was held.
At the endorsing convention, local supporters came out for Shapiro. According to the local Party Source, “Newcomer said she didn’t want the endorsement after seeing the support for Shapiro.”
A History of Supporting Democrats
An in-depth look at Kris Newcomer shows that she donated to several local democratic candidates such as Terri Bonoff for several years.
Looking back even further at Newcomers donation history shows that she has donated $12,100 to campaigns including President Obama, Terri Bonoff for Congress, the DFL State Party, Tim Walz, and Amy Klobuchar between 2006-2008. 
After a conversation with Newcomer, the party officer stated: “She’s a democrat.”
The official went on to say that in the course of the conversation, Newcomer stated that she was pro-LGBT, pro-Abortion, and pro-light rail. The party officer says that Newcomer had “no understanding of Republican issues” and “only the Chamber PAC, Kurt Daudt, and Representative Jenifer Loon (R-SD48B) had supported her.”
Speaker Daudt has been actively fighting against light rail. Campaign Finance Reports show that Newcomer donated $250 to Daudt’s campaign on June 1st of this year. As previously reported by Alpha News, this is not the first time that Speaker Daudt has chosen to not support the endorsed candidate. Daudt has also faced criticism for supporting Rep. Tom Hackbarth against the Republican-endorsed candidate Carl Bahr.
Support from the Young Republicans Chairman
In an interview with Alpha News, Noah John Stanford McCourt, a Young Republican (YR) and candidate for Waconia City Council, says it’s not just Daudt throwing his hat in for Newcomer.
McCourt says, “Adam Seidel, Chair of the YRs has also been actively campaigning with and for Newcomer.” McCourt went as far as to say, “Seidel downloaded walk list information he originally downloaded from the Shapiro campaign and gave it to Newcomer.”
“Seidel is also handling RNC voter registration and other documentation for Newcomer,” said McCourt.
The State Party has asked political units to respect endorsements of the people. A request for comment by State Party officials was not immediately returned. However, as the party officer told Alpha News, “the State Party has been fighting for the endorsement process, I don’t know why (Speaker) Kurt Daudt and the House is blowing off the endorsement process.”
McCourt is of the same mindset, wondering why the Chair of the Young Republicans and a Vice Chair of SD 48 was working against the endorsed candidate Mary Shapiro.
“If [Seidel] is going to be a BPOU (Basic Political Operating Unit) member he needs to support the endorsed candidate or resign,” McCourt said.
Looking for a Republican Victory
The party officer we spoke with believes the House and Speaker Daudt are only looking for an “R” to win. “They no longer care about social issues, just fiscal ones that will back Kurt (Daudt)…one thing is for sure, the Republican base will not support Newcomer if she wins the primary,” the official said.
Both McCourt and our Party Official source received calls from lawmakers and activists complaining about the disregard for the endorsement process.
Alpha News has reached out to Newcomer, Daudt, and Seidel and will update this story as responses are received.
Subscribe to Alpha News for up-to-the-minute primary coverage on August 9th.
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.