Minnesota Democrats channel grief into activism as Republicans hunt for a breakthrough

Minnesota's two major political parties gathered this weekend in starkly different moods but confronting a surprisingly similar political dilemma.

In Rochester, Democrats spent the weekend reckoning with a year shaped by political violence, immigration raids and growing frustration among activists that the party must respond more forcefully to President Donald Trump. In speech after speech, party leaders promised to channel their loss and anger into a drubbing for Republicans come November.

In Duluth, Republicans arrived energized by something they have not felt in a statewide election cycle for years: a sense of opportunity. At a moment when Republicans nationally are struggling to replicate the enthusiasm that accompanied President Donald Trump's return to the White House, Minnesota Republicans see open races for governor and U.S. Senate - along with lingering fallout from fraud scandals in state government - as their clearest path back to statewide power in decades.

But leaders in both parties grappled all weekend with a familiar question: Energize the people already in the room, or find a way to reach the people who weren't?

That tension was especially visible in Rochester, where more than half the delegates were attending their first DFL convention. Many traced their political involvement to Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota, and arrived eager to push the party in a more progressive direction.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar easily secured the party's endorsement for governor, but not before a floor challenge from activist Kobey Layne, who argued Democrats too often sideline their most loyal voters in pursuit of moderates.

"The trend in this country is to take for granted the communities that vote Democrat in order to grab a couple extra independent and moderate votes," Layne told delegates.

The influence of those activists was even more evident in the Senate race.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan built overwhelming support among convention delegates by channeling opposition to Operation Metro Surge, helping transform a race many insiders expected Rep. Angie Craig to dominate into a contest increasingly driven by the party's progressive base.

"We can't just be the lesser of two evils, and we can never, ever win by being a pale shadow of our opponents," Flanagan said after she was endorsed by voice vote. "We are building a movement that demands more."

Craig dropped out of the endorsing contest one day before the convention and is moving on to the primary.

Republicans confronted a parallel debate in Duluth.

In the Senate race, delegates endorsed Adam Schwarze, a former Navy SEAL who spent months courting grassroots activists and arguing Republicans should not have to moderate their views to win statewide. His victory over former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya amounted to a choice between ideological conviction and the promise of electability centered on fundraising, name recognition and appeal to swing voters.

But the result was hardly decisive. Tafoya survived six ballots and retained substantial support among delegates who worried less about satisfying activists than about defeating Democrats in November.

"This isn't the only race that counts," said Tafoya, who is moving on to the GOP primary in August.

After multiple rounds of balloting in the governor's race, Republican delegates endorsed businessman Kendall Qualls, who built his campaign around the argument that Minnesota needs an outsider to shake up state government.

But the outcome did little to settle the party's broader debate.

Questions about the convention's voting process could prompt House Speaker Lisa Demuth - who campaigned on her record negotiating difficult deals in a narrowly divided Legislature - to challenge the result and continue on to the August primary.

In that case, the primary will effectively become a referendum on what Republican voters believe the moment demands: disruption or proven leadership.

The conventions offered an early test of each party's mood, but the more consequential verdict will come in August, when a much larger and more diverse group of voters weighs in.

The parties also face the challenge of converting convention enthusiasm into a coalition broad enough to win in November - and of uniting activists whose priorities do not always align.

House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson argued Democrats may have an advantage in that effort. The surge of new delegates, activism around Operation Metro Surge and growing opposition to Trump have created an energy he said he has not seen on the left in years.

"It feels like (the Tea Party wave of) 2010," Stephenson said. "But on our side."

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(Walker Orenstein, Ryan Faircloth, Allison Kite and Sydney Kashiwagi of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.)

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