To the SD 49 State Central Delegates and Alternates, and to All of You that have always supported me —

THANK YOU for the privilege you’ve given me to serve as your next Minnesota National Committeewoman. I’m incredibly grateful for the trust that you’ve placed in me. It’s my promise to you, to honor your vote, and to continue to work with you as we strengthen our political teams and grow our base.

I cherish the friendships that I’ve built with so many of you. As I said in closing at our State Central meeting, together we will build the relationships that will KEEP MINNESOTA and AMERICA GREAT!

Barb Sutter

More than 225 dedicated delegates & seated alternates stayed through the 11 PM conclusion of the well-attended State Central Committee meeting on Friday, May 15, conducted by video teleconference.

The Committee elected Carlton Crawford as Deputy Chair, Barb Sutter as National Committeewoman and Max Rymer as National Committeeman. 

Two changes to the bylaws were approved at the State Central Committee meeting, and one was not approved.

• Not approved:  Eliminating mention of the Deputy Chair position and detailing the election of the Chair Pro Tempore.
• Approved:  Holding State Party Officer elections in at the December State Central Committee meeting rather than at the April meeting.
• Approved: Providing for the conduct of meeting and conventions by electronic means in the event of a declared Federal or State Emergency.

The series of Republican 2020 conventions continues this week with the meeting of the State Central Committee on Friday, May 15, and the State Convention on Saturday, May 16. Both of these meetings will be conducted by video teleconference.

Republicans will meet at the State Convention to consider endorsing a candidate for US Senate to run against incumbent Tina Smith (DFL). Jason Lewis, Rob Barrett Jr, and Forrest Hyatt are seeking that endorsement.

The State Party is also proposing some significant changes to the state party constitution and bylaws.

Changes to the state party constitution will be considered by the delegates and seated alternates at the State Convention and need only a majority of the votes to pass. Those proposed changes are:

• Eliminating the Deputy Chair position and creating a “Chair Pro Tempore” position (election by the Executive Committee of one of its members to perform the duties of the Chair if the chair is absent, removed, or unable to perform duties)
• Eliminating automatic delegates to the National Convention who serve by virtue of party position or elective office except for State Party Chair, RNC Committeewoman, and RNC Committeeman.
• Providing for the binding of all delegates and alternations to the National Convention to vote for a particular candidate
• Changing the delegates and alternates to Hennepin County Conventions from those delegates and alternates elected in precinct caucuses to delegates and alternates elected at BPOU conventions to Congressional District conventions.
• Restructuring of Judicial Districts and clarifying dues and limits.

Changes to the bylaws will be considered at the State Central Committee meeting and must be passed by a two-thirds vote. The proposed changes are:

• Eliminating mention of the Deputy Chair position and detailing the election of the Chair Pro Tempore.
• Holding State Party Officer elections in at the December State Central Committee meeting rather than at the April meeting.
• Streamlining the notification of proposals to amend the bylaws.
• Providing for the conduct of meeting and conventions by electronic means in the event of a declared Federal or State Emergency.

Delegates and alternates elected to the two state party meetings are urged to review the proposed changes ahead of time, as some of these changes are significant and open debate will be constrained by the nature of these remote meetings.

Congressional District 3 spans 13 BPOU's and had 370 people registered for the April 30 convention. SD49 had the highest number of registered delegates and alternates; 44 of the 64 delegates and alternates confirmed to represent Senate District 49 followed through and registered for the CD3 Convention.

The convention opened on Thursday evening, April 30, shortly after 7 pm. The most anticipated event of the evening was the endorsement of Kendall Qualls as Republican candidate for the 3rd Congressional seat. Qualls humbly accepted the endorsement by acclimation and promised an energetic campaign against DFL incumbent Dean Phillips. More information can be found about Kendall Qualls at his website (https://kendallforcongress.com/).

Three delegates and three alternates to the 2020 Republican National Convention were elected from a field of 10 candidates. The delegates elected were Patti Meier, Amy Stretcher Burkes, and Barb Sutter. The alternates were Jennifer Larson, John Alexander, and Mary Susan Timion.

Sam Adjei was selected to represent Republicans in the 3rd Congressional District when the Electoral College meets to vote for President after the 2020 election. Tanya Simons was elected to be his alternate.

Congressional District 5 (CD5) is largely made up of the city of Minneapolis, but it also includes five Edina precincts in the northeast corner of Senate District 49. CD5 held its convention by video teleconference on Wednesday evening, April 29.

SD49 was represented by a full delegation. The six delegates and six alternates that were confirmed at our April 18 SD49 convention included Nancy Carlson, Jon Rogers, Louis Dennard, Jennifer Hennemuth, Bryan and Susan Anderson, Daniel Nye, Heather Peterman, David Sanchez, Andrea and Louis Tiggas, and Wayne Wenger.

Paul Anderson, CD5 chairman, kicked off the meeting shortly after 7 pm and handed the electronic gavel to Jennifer Carnahan, Chair of the Minnesota GOP.

We voted for Thuy Nguyen, Melissa Moore, and Robert Moore as Delegates to the Republican National Convention and Lynn Johnson, Anton Lazzaro, and Ellen Swanson as Alternates.

Jennifer Carnahan was chosen to be an Elector with Anton Lazzaro acting as her Alternate.

The big finale was the endorsement of Lacy Johnson to run for Congress against Ilhan Omar. He won 90% of the votes against two opponents. He is very impressive and deserving of our support. Visit his web site  (https://www.lacyjohnson.com/) to learn more and help to contribute to his success in November.

This week, eight Congressional District (CD) Republican conventions will individually meet for the purpose of endorsing Republican candidates for US Congress.

The CD delegates and seated alternates who were elected from each Senate District will hold teleconference sessions similar to the SD49 convention, with the addition of video and robust voting technology. However, as communicated to the elected CD delegates/alternates at the SD conventions and in writing with the CD convention Call documents, registration deadlines 72-hours in advance of each convention were required to permit setup time for validated voting with the technology.

Each CD Convention will also elect three delegates and three alternates to the Republican National Convention which be held in August. Finally, each CD will elect one Elector who will represent Republicans in the 2020 Electoral College vote if President Trump wins a majority of that district’s November 3 popular vote.

Candidates seeking to be endorsed or elected in Congressional District 3, and also some for CD5, can be viewed by CLICKING HERE. We’ve requested but not yet received all the CD5 candidates for the list, but will update it when additional information is available.

Senate District 49’s Barb Sutter, the MNGOP Secretary, is one of 10 candidates running for Delegate to the National Convention in Congressional District 3.

The delegates and seated alternates to each of the congressional district conventions below will

• Endorse one candidate for US Congress
• Elect three National Delegates and three National Alternates
• Elect one Elector and one Elector Alternate

Slate of SD49 Delegates to the CD3 and State Conventions from CD3 Precincts

Slate of SD49 Delegates to the CD5 and State Conventions from CD5 Precincts

To see the slates of 1st Alternates, click on "read more"

Gov. Walz’s emergency order clearly altered the nature of the Senate District 49 convention this year. The entire event was conducted online and on the telephone, facilitated by staffers from the MN GOP state party. Volunteers did not need to set up registration desks and designate precinct seating in the assembly hall at Bethany Church. At the same time, the opportunity to meet and talk with each other after a long winter was not possible, either.

The convention’s virtual doors opened on Saturday, April 18, at 2:30 pm. The convention officially convened shortly after 3 pm. By getting some of the business completed through prior email voting and by tightly controlling the time-limits for individual speeches, the convention was completed in about 90 minutes. Over 140 delegates and alternates pre-registered, and close to 130 participated, in one of the better-attended senate district conventions in the state this year. Almost all of the alternates participating were “seated” and allowed to vote.

Jason Lewis and Rob Barrett Jr. (candidates for US Senate), Kendall Qualls (candidate for Congress in the 3rd Congressional District), and Dalia al-Aqidi (candidate for Congress in the 5th Congressional District) spoke to the delegates and alternates for a couple of minutes at various points in the agenda. All of them will be seeking the Republican endorsement in subsequent conventions.

The convention voted to approve the slate of SD49 delegates and 1st alternates to the Congressional District 3 convention, the Congressional District 5 convention, and to the State convention. As approved by the Delegate Nominating Committee, the ranking of 1st alternates was assigned by randomly pulling numbers. The ranking will be used at the congressional district conventions and at the state convention for seating alternates if elected SD49 delegates are absent.