Overview
- Party-run precinct meetings convened statewide at 7 p.m. to elect local officers, choose delegates, debate platforms and hold nonbinding straw polls whose tallies are posted by the Secretary of State.
- With 52% of GOP straw poll votes counted, Demuth leads with 31%, followed by Kendall Qualls at 27% and Mike Lindell at 16%, according to CBS Minnesota.
- The Republican gubernatorial field remains large, featuring candidates such as Scott Jensen, Lisa Demuth, Mike Lindell, Kristin Robbins and Kendall Qualls.
- On the DFL side, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar entered the governor’s race last week and holds an early polling edge over GOP contenders in a KSTP/SurveyUSA snapshot.
- The open U.S. Senate contest intensified on Monday as Sen. Tina Smith endorsed Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and former Rep. Dean Phillips backed Rep. Angie Craig, with both campaigns deploying volunteers to caucus sites.