The Senate District 10 GOP endorsing convention has been a long time coming with tensions boiling over between the Establishment and the Grassroots. The convention took place on Saturday, Feb. 21st, and featured three legislative endorsement contests. Most notably, the grassroots endorsed a conservative to replace RINO Ron Kresha in the House after he announced his retirement due to A4L exposure of his alleged PPP loan fraud. 

As seen in previous A4L reporting, bad faith Establishment RINOs were attempting to block an endorsing convention from happening at all. Aitkin County RINOs Dale Lueck and Jennifer Cummings were being uncooperative in selecting a convention date and lied to obfuscate the truth while 6 out of 7 other BPOUs were in total agreement. The majority of the MNGOP State Executive Committee failed to initially schedule the convention but did so following A4L and Grassroots pressure.

Sen. Nathan Wesenberg (SD10) and Rep. Isaac Schultz (10B) each ran unopposed in their respective races and were endorsed by the delegate body. While Sen. Wesenberg has upset the RINO Establishment by holding firm to conservative principles in the legislature, the constituents of his district made it clear that they stood by his side. After battling through a rigged endorsing convention and competitive primary in 2022, the support for Wesenberg has become insurmountable for the Establishment. Attendees tell A4L that Sen. Michael Kruen (SD32) was fair as the convention’s Chair, which is much more than can be said of RINO Tony Albright or RINO Justin Krych.

For the 10A race, three candidates competed for the endorsement: former Dept. of Agriculture county director Bernie Penner, former police chief Brian Lindquist, and healthcare businessman Mark Striemer. As seen in previous A4L reporting, RINO Ron Kresha failed to win a delegate position within his own precinct at the caucus! Local conservatives did not want Kresha in office or even influencing who would be his successor. Sources tell A4L that Kresha and the Establishment’s preferred and recruited candidate was Brian Lindquist. However, Lindquist could not count on Kresha because he no-showed the SD10 endorsing convention!

Five rounds of voting took place in the 10A race and grassroots Republican Mark Striemer led each ballot. Following the 2nd round results, Bernie Penner, another conservative candidate, was eliminated which left the race down to Lindquist and Striemer. Striemer won over delegates as a new candidate with his pro-life, anti-woke, and Constitutionalist agenda. On the final ballot, Striemer won 66% of the vote, passing the 60% requirement for the endorsement, while Lindquist had just 27% and the “no endorsement” option had an additional 7% of the vote. Sources tell A4L that Lindquist left the convention after losing and did not endorse Striemer.

Each candidate signed a pledge to abide by the party endorsement and Bernie Penner has posted on social media that he will live up to his word and has ended his candidacy. Brian Lindquist has not publicly announced on his campaign social media or elsewhere he will end his campaign or endorse Mark Striemer, making many conservatives question if he will betray his endorsement pledge. If lying to Republican delegates is the first impression 10A voters have of Brian Lindquist, he may be in for another trouncing in the primary election.

A4L congratulates grassroots conservatives in SD10 for remaining active in the political process, fighting the corrupt Establishment, and unifying behind a conservative candidate to replace RINO Ron Kresha. The conservative delegation that Sen. Nathan Wesenberg has cultivated replaces decades of RINO politician control. A4L encourages all Patriots to be involved locally and to support candidates that will advance the liberty agenda. A4L will remain the cutting-edge, liberty-based reporting that Minnesotans cannot get anywhere else.