Free Republic

The GOP shortlist now looks much different than it did even a week ago. Former state Sen. Ted Daley, an accountant and West Point grad who served in the Gulf and Iraq wars, is widely considered the party’s most credible candidate at this point. He was elected to the Senate in 2010, but lost re-election in 2012. Calling him “squeaky clean,” the state GOP operative said that Daley’s military service casts him “in the Kline mold.” Kline served 25 years in the Marines. And while Daley’s “very conservative,” a GOP operative who works on House races added, “he’s not a...

State Sen. Pat Pariseau began her long political career on a lark. Her husband "was the one interested in politics — especially Barry Goldwater" in the 1970s, she said, and he attended a Republican caucus with some high school buddies. Over breakfast the next morning, Ken Pariseau had a surprise. "He said to me, 'You're a delegate,' " she recalled last week from her St. Paul office. "I said: 'What on earth are you talking about? What am I going to do? ' " Despite her misgivings, she went to that year's Republican convention. "He thought I might enjoy it,"...

There's a new leader at the top of the Minnesota Republican Party. State Republicans chose Tony Sutton, a Twin Cities businessman and active GOP party member as its leader at a gathering in Brooklyn Center Saturday. Sutton replaces Ron Carey, who is stepping down from the post. Sutton served on numerous campaigns and Republican committees on both state and national levels. He most recently served as secretary-treasurer of the Minnesota Republican Party. He is also the CEO of Minnesota-based Baja Sol Restaurant Group. Radio talk show host Dave Thompson and former state Sen. Carrie Ruud also sought the post. The...