The Republican Party of Minnesota is being disgraced by a Party Chair who is doing the dirty work for the Political Establishment. Alpha News published a piece this morning showing that the Party is working against some of its endorsed candidates. At least five conservative, Republican endorsed candidates had their Republican data system cut off by MNGOP Chairman Hann at a crucial moment before the August 9th Primary.

Candidates Tom Dippel (Cottage Grove), Mark Bishofsky (Stillwater), Bill Lieske (Lonsdale), Natalie Barnes (Prior Lake) and Bret Bussman (Browerville) noticed their data access was locked out last Friday. All weekend long, they were unable to access the party data that allowed them to conduct campaign activities like door knocking and phone calling. 

Initially it appeared that there was a system-wide issue, but chatter picked up around the ranks of candidates statewide and quickly people noticed it was only a select few of the more conservative candidates who got booted out. The entire weekend passed before the Party even acknowledged they were behind the scheme. Four of the five candidates received emails from the Party on Monday morning. Lieske did not.

According to Lieske, his data access was removed last week and the Party hasn't even reached out to him about it. "I'm shocked that they would work against the endorsed candidate" stated Lieske when we spoke to him earlier. "What I read in the Alpha News article about the accusation of data share violations is objectively false. Let's be honest - they're doing this to hurt candidates who don't align with the Establishment. It's that simple."

Chairman Hann alleged that the candidates weren't upholding their part of the data agreement because they weren't uploading voter data back into the system. But there's no timeline for candidates to do it and party units like the House Republican Campaign Committee and the Senate Victory Fund are actively helping the endorsed candidate's primary opponents. Entering data back in the system could help their opponents.

Rep Jeremy Munson was primaried in 2020 by an Establishment backed candidate and the Republican Party used the same tactic against him the weekend before the primary. Munson wrote on Facebook that if a candidate "door knock[s] using the party data, [their] opposition can see where [they] are door knocking, which walk-books [they] are creating, what mailing lists [they] are creating, etc." 

The job of the Party is to support its endorsed candidates. If Hann was a good actor, and legitimately thought there was an issue with the data agreement, he should have contacted the candidates directly to work things out. But that's not the route he took which reveals there is more to this story. 

What this appears to be is an assault on the grassroots, conservative movement that has sprung up in the last two years as hundreds of thousands of patriots have grown upset with the Political Class on both sides of the aisle.

Action 4 Liberty was in the crosshairs of Corrupt Chair Hann last week as he sent out a press release defaming our organization. Most of the candidates that had the data revoked align with Action 4 Liberty's stances on the important issues like giving back the surplus, passing the Never Again Bill and not voting for unconstitutional, omnibus bills. Regardless of Hann's feelings on this, these candidates were endorsed by Republican delegates this Spring.

But Hann is looking to do the dirty work for the Republican Establishment, and he's using the Republican Party of Minnesota as his tool. There are many great, dedicated activists in the Party and this is going to leave a black eye on the Party. It's also a move that hurts the Republican Party's opportunity to grow its ranks, which is desperately needed since the Party is broke and hasn't won a statewide race since 2006. 

One former Republican Party officer we spoke to said "the MNGOP would rather let Democrats win than see real conservative Republicans elected. I think it's clear that torpedoing the endorsed candidates hurts our chances against the Democrats."

Three of the five candidates won endorsements against sitting legislators from the Political Establishment. Tom Dippel beat Rep Tony Jurgens for the open seat in Senate District 41. Bret Bussman beat incumbent Sen Paul Utke for Senate District 5. And Nurse Natalie Barnes beat Sen Eric Pratt for Senate District 54. Both Bishofsky and Lieske won the Party endorsements in districts with no incumbents, but face a primary opponent backed by the Political Establishment.

In the case of Bishofsky, the House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC) isn't even secretive about their support for the unendorsed primary challenger. They are openly breaking party rules and have received no backlash from Chairman Hann for doing it.

(Mark Bishofsky's primary opponent is pictured above attending the HRCC's mass filing press conference in May, after she lost the Party's endorsement)

Corrupt Chair Hann has also turned his guns on a rural County GOP unit and got caught lying about a Campaign Finance Board investigation. Kittson County Chairwoman Amanda Hughes received a letter from Hann last month stating that the Kittson County GOP was not in compliance with state campaign finance laws and is no longer recognized by the Party.

State statutes do not require an organization to register with the CFB if it does not raise or spend more than $750 in a year. Hughes contacted the CFB and sent a response stating there was no investigation being conducted, a direct contradiction of Hann's statement. See both letters below:

Hann wants to appear a strict enforcer of Party rules, but his enforcement is completely lopsided. He did nothing to correct the issues of delegate roster manipulation by Morrison County GOP. And when Senate District 10's Endorsing Convention was promptly recessed to stop an outsider from winning the Party's endorsement, Hann did nothing to ensure a new convention would take place. That means Senate District 10 is without endorsed candidates for Senate and both house districts.

To make matters worse, the Morrison County GOP decided to donate $8,000 of its funds to the unendorsed Establishment-backed candidate, Ron Kresha. That violates the Party's Constitution. Hann is silent about that one.

The Political Establishment has decided to go to war with the new block of grassroots, conservative activists because they seek to limit the power of government, which threatens the Establishment's power over us. Corrupt Chair David Hann is abusing his position by using the Republican Party of Minnesota to squash the grassroots, conservative candidates against the will of delegates. Activists say he should resign for violating the Republican Party of Minnesota's mission of supporting endorsed candidates.

Members of the Political Establishment have been trying to kick out new activists for years: Ron Paul people in 2012, Trump supporters in 2016 and now the new activists who rose up against COVID tyranny. The Republican Party MUST open its doors to these large, energetic blocks of activists. There are many in the ranks of the Republican Party that have done that. Unfortunately, Corrupt Chair Hann is working against them.