Across Minnesota, local Republicans have begun participating in conventions that elect Basic Political Operating Unit (BPOU)/local leadership and Congressional District (CD) party leadership as well as delegates/alternates for the State Central delegation. Some local conventions have already taken place while many others are in in the weeks that lie ahead. Action 4 Liberty has encouraged Patriots to go to their local party conventions to fight for the liberty movement.

At nearly every level of politics, conflict is bound between grassroots and establishment forces. From the outside looking in, one might wonder why local leadership races could get so competitive when two people would seemingly be on the same page as Republicans. Unfortunately, sometimes the people in power have very different interests and motives than the grassroots conservatives they are supposed to represent. Even at low levels like a local BPOU, cronies will use their roles to create slush funds to fill the pockets of RINOs, like was previously seen in Morrison County.

BPOU and CD leadership roles have been weaponized to rig endorsing conventions, ban duly-elected delegates, block conservative activism, and give other preferential treatment to RINOs in nomination committees or other avenues. Critical roles in party politics are oftentimes filled with pawns of the Establishment apparatus but grassroots Patriots have begun stepping up to the plate to take on these roles.

In Benton County, A4L is told incumbent RINO Chair Blake Paulson is blocking grassroots BPOU candidates from having access to the delegate list while incumbent members of the Exec. Board would already have access (though they claim they are not using it). This gives the grassroots candidates a major disadvantage as they’d have no way to equally introduce themselves or speak to what they’d do with their given role. In addition, candidates were reportedly set to only receive 45 seconds to speak and were obstructed from meaningful roles on the rules, NomCom, and credentials committees. Fairness has been seen as a threat rather than a guiding principle in this process.

Another battle is underway in CD7 as former MNGOP Chair candidate & former endorsed GOP Senate candidate Bret Bussman has announced a run for CD7 Chair. The incumbent Chair is Craig Bishop who is a staffer for Rep. Michelle Fischbach, highlighting a clear conflict of interest in this role. He cannot serve as a neutral referee for the CD7 endorsement as seen during the 2024 GOP race between Fischbach and Steve Boyd when CD7 leadership blocked duly-elected Otter Tail delegates from voting at the convention because they were largely anti-establishment outsiders supporting Boyd.

While Bussman has every Right to run for CD7 Chair as a dedicated conservative activist, party leadership is demanding he not be allowed to contact delegates! Considering Bussman previously saw nomination committee corruption first-hand during his MNGOP Chair run, it is clear that the RINO Establishment intends to put up roadblocks to prevent him from holding leadership roles. To make matters worse, some Otter Tail delegates may find themselves disenfranchised again as CD7 is reportedly using the 2022 delegate list instead of the 2024 list. Previous corrupt Morrison County Chair Mandy Heffron was appointed by Bishop to be CD7’s State Exec. member, which will also be up for election at their convention on March 29th.

SD45 has also developed an interesting battle for Chair as conservative David Penn takes on former House candidate Kathleen Fawke. Penn has become known as Professor Penn with his podcast where he is an outspoken opponent to Globalist, Uniparty politics. Penn has encouraged Patriots to adopt the Precinct Strategy by getting involved locally and attending GOP conventions. On the other hand, Fawke allegedly told the SD45 full committee that she would not support Trump and also allegedly refused to attend any event with Royce White. Fawke is additionally the wife of mega-millionaire Ben Fawke who was previously the CEO of Xcel Energy. Minnesota’s corrupt politicians have marched our state into giving monopoly control of energy to Xcel thanks to their lobbying efforts and co-opting campaign donations. Republican delegates may instead prefer a small business owner that is a hardcore MAGA conservative run their BPOU. SD45 is also the BPOU of MNGOP Chair Alex Plechash which presents him with a stark contrast of local leadership options.

The only way for Patriots to retake our country and state is by running for leadership positions or electing other grassroots conservatives. Elected CD and BPOU power can either be used to provide a level playing field or it can be used to rig the system for the Establishment. So-called moderates have nothing to fear if politics is fair but liberty conservatives could be banned and exiled if correct leadership is not chosen. A4L will continue to advocate for grassroots conservatives and be their microphone.