Minnesota Republican congressional candidates seek endorsements at Saturday conventions

Republican activists are gathering across Minnesota on Saturday to throw their backing behind candidates to compete in congressional races from western Minnesota to the Twin Cities suburbs.

Four Republicans are seeking the party’s endorsement in the suburban Third District, which is open after DFL U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips announced he wouldn’t seek re-election. In Minnesota’s competitive Second District, which covers suburbs and rural areas south of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Republicans Tayler Rahm and Joe Teirab are both vying for the backing of activists to take on incumbent U.S. Rep. Angie Craig.

Rahm, a conservative attorney from Burnsville who has never run for office before, is positioning himself as the outsider candidate with backing from grassroots activists. He’s up against former prosecutor Joe Teirab, who has said he plans to move on to the August primary election regardless of the results of Saturday’s endorsing convention.

Teirab has dramatically outraised Rahm so far this cycle. He recently reported ending March with $662,000 in the bank, while Rahm has $59,500 in cash.

The outcome of the race is critical for Republicans, who are fighting this fall to maintain their narrow control of the U.S. House. The Second District, represented since 2018 by Craig, is one of a few remaining swing districts in the country that offer them a chance for a pick up. Some Republicans are worried a potential primary battle will give them a disadvantage in the race, while others have criticized the endorsing process for choosing candidates who don’t have broad appeal.

In western Minnesota, incumbent U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach and challenger Steve Boyd are vying for the Republican endorsement. Both candidates have signaled they plan to continue running through the August primary election, regardless of who wins the party’s endorsement at Saturday’s convention.

“Despite having every opportunity to respect our party’s process, our traditions, and the opinions of grassroots delegates, Steve Boyd is defying the endorsement and forcing a primary election,” Norann Dillon, executive director of Fischbach’s congressional campaign, wrote in a recent email.

The 38-year-old Boyd is a political outsider, a small business owner from Kensington who’s never held public office. He said the Seventh Congressional District would be better served by a new voice, arguing Fischbach, a former state senator for more than two decades, is a political insider.

“My goal would be to do politics a different way and run in a manner that engages more people in the process. Don’t just work the numbers so we win. Stand on principle,” Boyd recently told the Star Tribune. He added that he would be willing to shut down the government to fix the border crisis.

Fischbach has one of the most conservative voting records in Congress and has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Yet, many Trump-aligned conservative activists in the district are backing Boyd over Fischbach.

The Seventh District’s endorsing convention is expected to be contentious. Some conservative activists from Otter Tail County who are trying to become delegates could disrupt the convention. Most of those activists support Boyd and could make the endorsing race more competitive if they’re seated as delegates.