As MN Democrats continue their leftward march toward Socialism and Authoritarianism, the MNGOP should know better than to follow the same trend. Unfortunately, some Republicans have fallen for the false assumption that they will find success by caving to the Left on critical issues.

GOP politicians seem to forget that by selling out conservative values, you lose far more Republican votes than the Democrat votes you pick up. In fact, the number of leftist votes for a Republican are so minuscule that chasing after those voters does you more harm than good. Anti-gun, pro-abortion leftists are NEVER going to vote for a Republican regardless of how much they backstab the GOP base or cave to liberal positions.

Conservative voters are not looking for a Democrat-lite party, they are looking for a party that will actually fight for their values.

MNGOP Chair Alex Plechash recently said in a Star Tribune article that “If we are hardcore on certain key issues all the way to the right, we’re probably not going to win”. Of course, a GOP candidate must appeal to independent voters and others who do not align on several issues, but you can’t win if you abandon your base in the process! Shouldn't Plechash be arguing candidates support the party platform, not undermine it?

Plechash has even begun inserting his own preferences and opinions into certain races, an action prohibited by Article IV, Section 8 of the MNGOP Bylaws. Plechash issued a worthless endorsement of RINO Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach (CD7) and was quoted by the Star Tribune in February that he predicted Royce White would not win the party endorsement again for the U.S. Senate race. 

The Democrats are mutilating children. The Democrats want boys/men in girls/women sports and locker rooms. The Democrats protected pedophiles in the MN Human Rights Act. The Democrats support late-term and post-birth abortions. The Democrats want to destroy the 2nd Amendment. The Democrats passed a Green New Deal carbon mandate plan that will cause energy blackouts. 

The Democrats have the radical platform and ideology yet Republicans are the ones talking about caving!

2022 GOP Governor nominee, RINO Scott Jensen, is flip-flopping on all kinds of issues and is losing his base of support the further left he goes. In a March 2022 MPR interview that he “would try to ban abortion” as Governor, said “There is no reason for us to be having abortions going on”, and said he didn’t support abortions in cases of rape or incest. In July 2022, Jensen changed his position and said he supports abortion for cases of rape or incest. In September 2022, Jensen started saying that the Governor can’t do anything about abortion due to Doe v. Gomez. Jensen then wrote an op-ed to the Star Tribune in June 2023 arguing the same position but wanted a ballot initiative to decide the issue. More details and quotes of Jensen flip-flopping can be seen here. If Jensen reverses course again, do not buy it! This is the same guy that funded abortion while in the state Senate and even interned for Planned Parenthood in 1982. 

It is a bold-faced lie to pretend that the Governor cannot do anything on abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can defund Planned Parenthood because courts can obviously not compel legislators to vote a certain way. MN has some of the most radical abortion laws in the country and Republicans have a winning message if they fight back. Instead, accepting the left's terms of debate and selling out conservative values will guarantee defeat.

The MNGOP has been shifting to the left for decades and yet they haven’t won. Doubling down on this failed strategy will lead to the same results. Conservative voters will not turn out for a party that stands for nothing. Instead, the MNGOP should be charting a liberty agenda that shrinks government and puts tax dollars back in the pockets of taxpayers. The GOP losing has been the fault of failed party leaders and crooked politicians, not the grassroots conservatives who care enough to be involved in the party and become delegates!

The MNGOP is going into their 20th year of no statewide election victories and the lessons of losing indicates a new strategy must be employed. If the MNGOP wants the over 1.5M Trump voters in our state to turn out again in 2026, they must make sure that their conservative principles are represented. Becoming more and more like the Democrats is a worn-out, failing strategy that must be replaced if the GOP wants to win.