Dr. Scott Jensen wins GOP endorsement for Governor of Minnesota | Health and fitness

ROCHESTER, Minnesota (AP) – Dr. Scott Jensen, a vaccine skeptic and former state senator, won the support of the Minnesota Republican Party Saturday to challenge Democratic Governor Tim Walz in the November election, bypassing the top on the ninth ballot with 65% of the vote.

Jensen, who led in the first two ballots, regained the lead on the seventh ballot with 59%, just under the 60% needed to claim support, once Lexington Mayor Mike Murphy backed him after his elimination on the sixth ballot.

“Game over,” Jensen told delegates, accompanied by fellow former Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens Matt Burke, who used frequent football metaphors to get their fans excited.

Jensen’s return ended a surge by business CEO Kendall Qualls, who fell to 33% on the last ballot after leading on the fourth ballot. But Jensen hit a bump in the road when Coles, who was trying to become the first to endorse the black Minnesota Republican governor, told delegates that Murphy had falsely claimed that Coles had offered to make Murphy his running mate, and then backed out of the offer.

This claim infuriated some Qualls delegates and forced them to take two additional ballots. Coles did not appear on stage with Jensen in the traditional parade of party unity, ending the convention on a note of strife.

Both pledged to honor party support and relinquish the right to run in the August 9 Republican primary, and Head of State David Hahn told reporters he did not expect Jensen to face a serious challenge. Former President Donald Trump, who remains an influential force within the party, has not endorsed anyone in the Minnesota races.

The 2,100 delegates were aiming to complete their work by the 6 p.m. deadline Saturday to vacate the Rochester Mayo Civic Center, but Friday’s quick and relatively smooth electronic voting process reduced the chances of time running out and leaving without approval. Delegates and party leaders hope that at least one of their candidates will become the first Republican elected to a statewide office since Governor Tim Pawlenty’s re-election in 2006.

Jensen, the family doctor from Chaska, got his first start in the race and made the most money. He has built a following nationwide as he frames his doubts about the COVID-19 vaccine — and his opposition to masking mandates and closing schools and businesses — as support for medical freedom. In his speech, he emphasized his efforts as a state senator to stand up against the Wales administration’s handling of the pandemic.

“Everyone in this room somewhat understood that Tim Walz had failed. He did. But who would step forward? Who would serve for the benefit, security, and protection of all people? Who would help Minnesota find the way back to be the shining and shining Star of the North?” he asked. Jensen in a video before his speech. “The answer is you.”

Jensen was repeatedly accompanied on stage by Burke, who reminded delegates that he declined to visit the White House after the Ravens’ victory in the 2013 Super Bowl due to President Barack Obama’s support for abortion rights.

Qualls highlighted his rise from poverty, to going to college, to becoming an army officer and business leader. His life, he said, is testimony to the failure of the Democrats’ agenda and shows that the American dream is still alive.

“The Radical Left thinks I shouldn’t be here. The media doesn’t think I should be here. Tim Walz wishes I wasn’t here at all,” Coles said to loud applause. black, and that we are not black, and we did not vote for him. Well, after Donald J. Trump voted for president – both times – and I’m still black. And I’m still a Republican. And I’d be Joe Biden and Tim Walz’s worst nightmare.”

Former Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, the East Gil Lake senator who has stressed his support for law enforcement, withdrew after the third ballot and cast his support for Qualls. Senator Michael Benson of Hamm Lake, who was a candidate but withdrew before the convention, joined Gazelka in support of the Qualls.

Murphy, the mayor of Lexington, a small suburb northwest of Minneapolis, has criticized Wales for his handling of the pandemic and the sometimes devastating unrest that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.

“When we shut down Walz, locked us out of our churches and hid our kids, I banned it in my city and shut it down by making my community a healthy freedom haven, free of all COVID bullshit,” Murphy said. “When Wales and (President Joe) Biden attacked our Second Amendment, I defended him in my community by declaring my city a Second Amendment Sanctuary and I will do it for the state.”

However, it was not clear on Saturday whether the approved candidate would survive a serious initial challenge. Rich Stanek, a former Hennepin County sheriff, who was seeking endorsements, was sidelined by a recent car accident and skipped the convention while recovering and did not announce a decision. Hahn admitted that he has not spoken recently with the Stanek campaign.

“Rich and his campaign team are evaluating all options going forward to defeat the Wales in November,” his campaign said in a statement on Saturday.

On Friday night, the convention endorsed business attorney Jim Schultz for attorney general, an office that Minnesota Republicans haven’t won since 1968. He hopes to oust incumbent Keith Ellison, the former congressman who led the prosecution team that won a previous murder conviction for Officer Derek Chauvin in Floyd’s death.

Schultz defeated Doug Wardlow, who was the party’s nominee in 2018 and is MyPillow’s general counsel. That company’s CEO, Mike Lindell, rose to national prominence perpetuating the false claim that Trump won the 2020 election. Former Washington District Judge Tad Judd and attorney Lynn Torgerson also lost. Former lawmaker Dennis Smith plans to challenge Schultz in the Republican primary.