The MNGOP held their State Central committee meeting with a couple hundred delegates and attendees on Dec. 13th to conduct several items of party business, most notably, a gubernatorial straw poll among a packed field of candidates.

The MNGOP State Central committee is the highest echelon of delegate participation and has largely been controlled by the RINO Establishment for years. State Central consists of political insiders, politicians, and conservative/party activists and the actions they take highlights the intra-party battles of the MNGOP.

Many will wonder what the impact is with winning the State Central straw poll and may be shocked to learn that the impact is minimal. The result is not binding and does not entitle the winner to any resources, support, or help. Beyond a nice headline, winning the State Central straw poll may also bring you some bad luck!

Look no further than the 2022 Governor race where RINO Paul Gazelka won the State Central straw poll only to get LAST PLACE at the State Convention! This showed just how out of touch the State Central delegation was with the larger Republican movement in MN. In the 2018 Governor race, state Rep. Matt Dean won the State Central straw poll and then dropped out of the race the next month! In the 2014 race, a majority of State Central voted for RINO candidates and in the 2010 election, RINO Marty Seifert won the straw poll and lost the endorsement at the State Convention.

If recent history is the guide to view MN politics, you may not want the curse of the MNGOP State Central straw poll behind you!

11 candidates were included on the gubernatorial straw poll ballot and it also featured an “Undecided” and “Write In” option. While very few likely noticed, the MNGOP did exclude several lower-tier Governor candidates from the ballot. See the ballot below:

Below you will see the results of the cursed State Central endorsement:

There are several key things to note with the results, first and foremost it is clear that Qualls and Demuth are splitting the Establishment vote. Sources tell A4L that both campaigns were making a big push for this endorsement and delegates were receiving calls, texts, and hand-written letters to support one or the other. Despite this non-binding endorsement carrying no weight, this may help solidify to voters which candidates are top-tier and which ones are not. Qualls likely won in part because he is pledging to abide by the party endorsement, despite being sketchy on the question in his previous Governor run by not immediately endorsing Jensen at the 2022 convention and endorsing He/Him Joe Frasier over Royce White following White becoming the party’s endorsed U.S. Senate candidate in 2024.

My Pillow CEO and conservative lightning rod Mike Lindell trailed Qualls and Demuth after just formally launching his campaign two days before the State Central convention! Lindell’s appeal to the America First grassroots and his consistency in election integrity battles has carved a lane for his brand of conservatism in this Governor race. Lindell having a strong performance in this poll confirms that he has catapulted his way into the top-tier in this massive candidate field. Mike Lindell also signed A4L's Never Again Pledge live at our Christmas party and has firmly planted his feet as a hardcore conservative.

The most shocking result of the straw poll is that the 2022 GOP Governor nominee, Dr. Scott Jensen, received only eight votes/2.38%! Jensen has lost touch with the grassroots conservative movement and is becoming increasingly irrelevant. From abortion to gun rights to losing to Walz by over 7.5% in 2022, Minnesota Republicans appear to be DONE with Jensen’s wishy-washy campaign.

Establishment RINO state Rep. Kristin Robbins is also floundering and received just 3.87%. Neocon Nikki Haley-backed Kristin Robbins has become infamously known as the thief of Action 4 Liberty’s signature Never Again Bill when she and the Establishment pushed a fake version that actually increased the amount of time a Governor could unilaterally declare an emergency! Has Robbins learned nothing from Covid?!? Robbins has also tried to play hard-ball with Demuth on the closed door deals Demuth made with Walz and Democrats but many conservatives are wondering: Why weren’t you calling this out in the midst of the battle? Why complain after the fact when you didn’t fight back when you could?

Many will also note that Chris Madel did surprisingly well with a fourth place performance in the straw poll, however, Madel will have a lot of explaining to do for conservatives. Madel’s record of donating over $55K to Democrats (including $5,500 to Tim Walz), arguing that donations to Dems helped free legal clients (pay to play scheme?), and his legal record including defending a Somali terrorist sympathizer will leave many conservatives wondering if Madel is truly a Democrat plant.

Action 4 Liberty will continue to provide Patriots with hard-hitting, liberty-based, anti-establishment reporting that cannot be found anywhere else. The MN Governor race is gaining national attention as more and more fraud is uncovered and prosecuted. Tim Walz’ popularity continues to plummet and the over 1.5M Minnesotans who voted for President Trump in 2024 will likely be very excited to replace Tampon Tim, but only if the GOP candidate represents their interests.