The election of the new chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota has taken on some aspects of a broader campaign, one designed to communicate to voters and not just party activists.
The latest indication is a candidate forum sponsored by Republicans in the second congressional district. The district's chair, Bill Jungbauer, said he expects all four candidates for the seat -- Keith Downey, Bill Paulsen, Don Allen and Bonn Clayton -- to participate in the forum moderated by activists Walter Hudson and Chris Andryski March 21 at 7 p.m at the Eagan Community Center.
To amp up the participation, the forum features a Facebook page, social hour and cash bar. Downey and Paulsen are running aggressive campaigns to reach out to the 250 delegates who will meet April 6 to make their choice.
The new chair has a giant task, ahead including retiring $1.6 million in debt, creating new structures to help candidates in 2014 and, most importantly, telling Minnesota voters why they should return Republicans to a majority status by winning the governor’s office, the Minnesota House and U.S. Senate and Congressional seats.
The forum will be more than and inside-politics event. "I would hope that delegates, activists, and voters see that we are vetting our officers and that we have a great field of candidates, " Jungbauer said.