The Republican Party has been taken over by election deniers, and Minnesota Republicans are no exception. The following Republicans running for state legislature attended the “Storm the Capitol” rally in Minnesota to protest the 2020 election results, tried to subvert the democratic process, or even called to discount hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans’ votes.
WORST OF THE WORST
Erik Mortensen:
Running for HD-54A
- Voted “No” on a resolution to condemn the January 6th insurrection and related violence
- Months after the election was over, joined calls for a 50-state audit of the 2020 presidential election and possible decertification of the results
Susan Akland:
Running for HD-18A
- Called a resolution condemning the January 6th insurrection and related violence “slanted” and claimed the protests of election results had a “reasonable purpose”
- Attended the Jan 6th “Storm the Capitol” rally in St. Paul to protest the certification of the 2020 election
Jeff Dotseth:
Running for HD-11A
- Donated to Trump’s Save America fund, which promised to overturn the 2020 election results
- Appears to have an account on the right-wing social media platform Parler where he follows @TheProudBoys
MORE THREATS
Bruce Anderson, SD-29
- Months after the election was over, joined calls for a 50-state audit of the 2020 presidential election and possible decertification of the results
Jeff Backer, HD-9A
- Voted “No” on a resolution to condemn the January 6th insurrection and related violence
Calvin Bahr, SD-31
- Signed a letter asking the Attorney General of Texas to sue the State of Minnesota over false claims of illegal voting
- Voted “No” on a resolution to condemn the January 6th insurrection and related violence
Stephen Doerr, HD-26A
- Shared false voting machine conspiracy theories on social media and called the votes “soiled” in multiple states
Rich Draheim, SD-22
- Signed a letter asking the Attorney General of Texas to sue the State of Minnesota over false claims of illegal voting
Steve Drazkowski, SD-20
- Attended the January 6th “Storm the Capitol” rally in St. Paul to protest the certification of the 2020 election
- Voted “No” on a resolution to condemn the January 6th insurrection and related violence
- Signed a letter asking the Attorney General of Texas to sue the State of Minnesota over false claims of illegal voting
- Months after the election was over, joined calls for a 50-state audit of the 2020 presidential election and possible decertification of the results
- Spread false claims of voter fraud on social media
Mary Franson, HD-12B
- Attended the January 6th “Storm the Capitol” rally in St. Paul to protest the certification of the 2020 election
- Signed a letter asking the Attorney General of Texas to sue the State of Minnesota over false claims of illegal voting
- Used social media to promote #StoptheSteal on January 5th, 2021, and called on Minnesotans to protest at the Governor’s residence
Steve Green, HD-2B
- Voted “No” on a resolution to condemn the January 6th insurrection and related violence
Matt Grossell, HD-2A
- Voted “No” on a resolution to condemn the January 6th insurrection and related violence
Glenn Gruenhagen, SD-17
- Attended the January 6th “Storm the Capitol” rally in St. Paul to protest the certification of the 2020 election
- Signed a letter asking the Attorney General of Texas to sue the State of Minnesota over false claims of illegal voting
- Months after the election was over, joined calls for a 50-state audit of the 2020 presidential election and possible decertification of the results
- Spread false claims that sought to invalidate as many as 700,000 votes in Minnesota
John Heinrich, HD-35A
- Voted “No” on a resolution to condemn the January 6th insurrection and related violence
John Jasinski, SD-19
- Signed a letter asking the Attorney General of Texas to sue the State of Minnesota over false claims of illegal voting
Mark Koran, SD-28
- Signed a letter asking the Attorney General of Texas to sue the State of Minnesota over false claims of illegal voting
- Used social media to solicit funds to support individuals arrested for their role in the January 6th insurrection in DC
Cynthia Lonnquist, HD-52B
- Co-plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging state and local election results, including allegations of voter fraud and voting machine irregularities
Eric Lucero, SD-30
- Attended the January 6th “Storm the Capitol” rally in St. Paul to protest the certification of the 2020 election
- Signed a letter asking the Attorney General of Texas to sue the State of Minnesota over false claims of illegal voting
Shane Mekeland, HD-27A
- Signed a letter asking the Attorney General of Texas to sue the State of Minnesota over false claims of illegal voting
- Months after the election was over, joined calls for a 50-state audit of the 2020 presidential election and possible decertification of the results
- Voted “No” on a resolution to condemn the January 6th insurrection and related violence
Pam Myhra, SD-55
- Co-plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging state and local election results, including allegations of voter fraud and voting machine irregularities
Ken Navitsky, SD-25
- Active on Parler, where he has spread conspiracy theories about the election results, and also on Twitter, where he shared advertisements for the January 6th gathering in DC
- Says voter integrity is “job number 1” and that he will insist on changes to the state constitution on election rules
Donald Raleigh, HD-32B
- Raleigh was linked to the Oath Keepers by data obtained by the Anti-Defamation League
- Raleigh has also confirmed that he attended a 2021 conference in South Dakota featuring well-known election conspiracy spreader Mike Lindell
Fern Smith, HD-52A
- Co-plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging state and local election results, including allegations of voter fraud and voting machine irregularities
Bill Weber, SD-21
- Signed a letter asking the Attorney General of Texas to sue the state of Minnesota over false claims of illegal voting