The Republican Party of Minnesota’s State Central Committee Convention will convene on Saturday April 29th in St Cloud Minnesota. A number of things will be discussed and there will be an election of the State Party Chair and Deputy Chair.
Thankfully we will have a brand new set of Chair and Deputy Chair being that Keith Downey intends to run for the Governorship of Minnesota in 2018, and the Deputy Chair Chris Fields is running for the Chair position at this convention. We have listed the Candidates for both offices on our Candidates page as a courtesy to State Central Delegates and Alternates.
With that said, we would like to formally endorse Jennifer Carnahan as the new Republican Party of Minnesota Chair.
We cannot decide between Jennifer DeJournett and David Pascoe as who to endorse, but we can’t in our right mind select Andy Aplikowski–we will write a separate article about our decision not to endorse for Deputy Chair.
Our Reasons to Endorse Jennifer Carnahan for the RPM State Party Chair are simple:
- All of Minnesota elected offices will be in play between now and the end of the term (Municipal & School Boards, State and Federal)
- Carnahan is not tied to the Establishment Legacy of the Party.
- Business, Marketing, & Messaging Approach that is absent from the RPM today.
- Winning Elected Office will not be a one size fits all
- Economically Depressed BPOUs will be not be overlooked.
- Platform Outreach to all Minnesotans.
The one common denominator between the 3 Stooges (we apologize to Stooge fans) is that CD4 & CD5 will not be in play if they were to take office. No matter what sort of high profile candidate is found to run for office in Minneapolis or St Paul city council, mayor, school board, or county commissions; the Republican Party of Minnesota will not support those candidates…nor will they endorse or back a conservative judge for a district court, or for the Minnesota Supreme Court.
In the past the RPM aka MNGOP used to print out a sample ballot for Republicans living in St Paul or Minneapolis to suggest who to vote for. They don’t do that anymore, so last fall we posted a “pseudo sample ballot,” for Republicans in St Paul to use when going to the polls.
Rick Rice, Chris Fields, and David Hann have deemed CD4 & CD5 as “Flyover country.” A great example of this was the recent CD4 Convention. There was a choice between CD7 or CD4 on April 22nd, and all of the candidates decided to go to chilly Thief River Falls to appear at the CD7 convention there. We were told that there was a Candidates forum and that does make sense.
The poor involvement in CD4 & CD5 by the State Party has made the St Paul-Mpls area a place to politically avoid. It is unfortunate because many of the economic, and social problems that the Minnesota State Budget addresses is the result of St Paul & Minneapolis being under one party institutional rule with no force that will hold the career DFLers accountable to their neglect. Both cities waste untold amounts of Minnesota taxpayer money and make it harder for families to raise their children, educate them in a safe cost efficient school, and for businesses to create jobs.
This Cycle of the State Party Officers not caring about what goes on St Paul & Minneapolis, but complaining about it in their “This Week in Pictures,” newsletter needs to end.
Winning The Urban Core for Republicans with City GOP
So why do St Paul Urban Republicans (SPUR) take advice and direction from SUrban Republicans (SUR)? It’s because the State party concentrates on party units with money rather than party units that don’t. In fact they take SPUR money and spend it in SUR areas like Edina, Maple Grove, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie and other places where they “know they can win.”–quote from a MNGOP staffer at 2014 CD4 Convention. This seems kind of a waste of capital to spend it on a sure winner.
Isn’t Rick Rice from the Minnetonka “Safe Win” Area? David Hann is from Eden Prairie which is a “Good Win Chance,” Area?
A great illustration of this is when the former CD4 Republican Chair Jim Carson showed up at the HD 66B Republican Convention on February 7, 2015. He announced that he was running for re-election. He pointed out that the recent “St Paul Republican City Committee meeting,” only had 25 people show up and the DFL had 2500 show up. Now he fudged the numbers by 5 people it was really 20. A month earlier he had bragged to DFLer Kevin Driscoll, a Villager writer, a close friend of his and John Krenik’s that they were having a “Caucus & Rally.” That wasn’t quite true. There was no St Paul Republican City Committee Caucus and can you really have a rally with 20 people?
Jim Carson mentioned that St Paul is a one party town and that to get elected you have to go to the DFL caucus. Jim has no problem running stealth candidates. He did that in 2011 with Liz Paulson who embraced every ism and identity group in order to run for school board. She even had her yard signs where DFLers Bostrom and Helgen had theirs and sported “Re-elect Keith Hardy” Yard Signs on her own yard. Keith is the only African American endorsed DFLer on the St Paul Public Schools Board of Education (SPPS BOE). Carson also says you don’t have to believe in the platform either. Perhaps Carson is a Nelson Rockefeller Republican or a DFLer himself.
St Paul and other Urban Core cities across the nation have a high concentration of financially poor people living in them and the problems that exist can’t be fixed with money. The welfare system in these cities has shown that financial and political saviors will always fail in the Urban Core. Only the Savior can save Cities.
The Urban Core has a number of financial vultures that prey on the poor’s desires. Usury institutions and pawn shops are everywhere. Crime has a revolving door especially with youth. The drug culture flourishes. Fake churches like the Lutheran ELCA, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and false doctrine social churches like the Methodists, Presbyterians, and Liberal Catholic Churches support the whims of corrupt city policies and office holders. So the Urban Core cities essentially are financial and spiritual poverty collection Centers.
So the Urban Core cities essentially are financial and spiritual Poverty Collection Centers.
In the suburbs the biggest problem might be odd city regulations. In Woodbury they don’t allow car lots outside a building, nor residents to work on their cars outside their garage. No place in that city one can find an auto parts store. They might have areas for low income housing where they can contain non-white and immigrants in their city. Suburban life reminds one of European life where it is of one culture and one income class, and one kind of faith. Usually Mega-Churches exist in the suburbs.
Whereas Urban Core life is closer to the melting pot of the USA which sports diverse backgrounds of people, multiple cultures, multiple faiths, and all income levels especially the poor who live on government and private charitable handouts.
Of course there should be a different approach to politics and yet the SPUR is often neglected and maligned by SUR like Jim Carson. He has never lived in St Paul nor Minneapolis and therefore out of touch with the needs of those cities. The current State Party Executive Officers with the exception of Deputy Chair Chris Fields are all SURs. Though Chris does not support SPURs nor MplsURs he sees no growth in the Urban Core and longs to be a SUR. That’s why he is an ineffective leader. Too bad because Major Chris Fields was trained to work with all levels of people to work together on one mission in the Marine Corps (leaving men behind on the battlefield is a no no).
So what should Urban Republicans do to win in cities like St Paul and Minneapolis? Stop listening to SURs like Keith Downey, Jim Carson, Rick Rice, David Hann, and Chris Fields is a good start. Work on the problems that exist in the Urban Core. To do that they need to seek out groups that already exist that are working to help everyone. In St Paul there are 17 District Planning Councils that have simple ways to get someone elected–send a massive amount of your group there and elect from your group. That requires access to a database like GOP Data Center that MNGOP has. Another way is to search for Christian Churches that follow true Christian doctrine–Bible Based and unite their efforts to save people. Kyle Idleman of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville Kentucky, and author of several books says that communities thrive where the Savior Reigns. Avoid Republican groups run by SURs. Cross train SPUR & MplsUR with groups in Greater MN Republicans (GMRs) and some SURs like Maple Grove that have healthy habits when campaigning-bring them in to access what is possible in the Urban Core. You’ll know right away if they have SUR tendencies. Educate them if they show it, otherwise avoid SUR disciples or transplants. .
“Communities thrive where the Savior Reigns,”–Kyle Idleman of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville Kentucky
SURs are basically a different party. They are xenophobic, and aren’t hard workers, they believe like Jim Carson stated at a CD4 Full Committee in December 2010, “I would rather have one person write a check for $100 than to have 10 people who will give $10 each.” That’s a real country club Republican mentality. The 10 people are more likely to volunteer than the $100 check writer. In 2011 and 2013, Jim Carson did everything he could to block a SPUR candidate Greg Copeland from getting elected. In 2011 the special election for SD 66, and to SPPS BOE in 2013. In the former Jim blanketed Falcon Heights with lit, and he knew it to be a Democrat Stronghold. There may have been a few SURs with those $100 checks. In the latter case Jim blocked access to the RNC Data Center (Phoenix replacement) then piecemealed out lists to his SUR wannabe Steve Olson to areas in St Paul that he thought were SUR like–Ward 3 & southern Ward 4 (Highland Park). People in Highland Park usually write a check but you never see them door knock or do lit drops.
If SPURs stop following SURs like Downey and Carson and make their own unique way, it might take a bit of time, but eventually Urban Republicans will forge a way to sustainable success.
Our Focus in this article has been the lack of support from the Republican Party in Municipal Elections and City Involvement down to the block level. The St Paul Republican City Committee (SPRCC) was reorganized against its will be the Establishment Tyrants in CD4 Republicans (Jim Carson, Patsy Anderson, Mitch Berg, John Krenik, Steve Olson, Liz Paulson, Tor Sorenson, Michelle Manke to name a few). The State Party under the misguidance of Keith Downey, Chris Fields, and Kelly Fenton looked the other way and let it happen.
The City Committees (currently there are 2 but there should be at least one per CD) shouldn’t report or duckwalk to the tune of the CD leaders but report directly to the State Executive Committee and the Party Officers. This will take a State Party Constitutional Change.
We saw a glimmer of light from a group formed by Jill Homan the Washington DC National Committeewoman, called City GOP. It was formed to win the Cities of America for the Republican Party. This is what the MNGOP should be doing…but it isn’t.
We need new leadership, with new proven ideas, we need Jennifer Carnahan.
All of Minnesota’s cities should be in play during an Election not just the affluent ones.
Vote for Jennifer Carnahan to be your next Republican Party of Minnesota Chair.
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