MN-Gov: On Monday, ex-Minnesota Republican Party Chair Keith Downey announced that he would run for governor. Before becoming chair, Downey served two terms in the state House representing part of the Twin Cities suburbs; Downey gave up his seat in 2012 to narrowly lose an expensive 2012 state Senate race.
In Minnesota, both major parties hold nominating conventions of activists prior to the primary, and many candidates will, in local parlance, "abide" by the party endorsement process and drop out instead of proceeding to the primary if they aren't chosen. Downey says he will abide by the endorsement, though it’s unclear if his tenure heading the state GOP will be an asset or a liability here.
Downey argues that he helped cut the massive financial deficit he inherited, and he’s likely to take credit for the GOP flipping the state House and Senate under his watch. However, Downey has plenty of enemies within the party. State Rep. Kelly Fenton, who was Downey’s first deputy, bashed him on Twitter on Monday, declaring, “The only electoral wins Downey has been a part of are the ones where other people did his job for him.” Downey fired off a Trump-like response, arguing, “Bitter @kellyfentonmn: MNGOP Deputy Chair '12, lost House & Senate. Horrible GOP brand. I won Chair, cut her pay, built MNGOP, won '14 '16.”
Downey also pissed off some party regulars during this spring’s race to succeed him as GOP chair. Downey sent out a letter arguing that Chris Fields, who was his most recent deputy chair, was utterly unqualified. Fields lost that race, but one congressional district chair publically took Downey to task. Downey joins state Rep. Matt Dean, Hennepin County Commissioner and 2014 nominee Jeff Johnson, and Ramsey County Commissioner Blake Huffman in the race for the GOP nomination. A few other Republicans are considering, including state House Speaker Kurt Daudt.