As reported in the media, Pat Shortridge is the new chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota (RPM). He was elected with 224 votes, or 66% of the total delegation. Terry McCall received 103 votes. Todd McIntyre received just nine votes.

What I found interesting is that, while legislative leaders and party operatives (paid officials or people who are seeking to become paid officials) supported Shortridge, members of the Republican Party’s State Executive Committee and leaders within the party supported McCall by a slight edge. For example, McCall himself is the chairman of Congressional District 2. Rick Weible and Margaret Cavanagh are the co-chairs of Congressional District 3, while Adam Weigold is the chairman of Congressional District 5. All four sit on the executive committee and all supported McCall.

St. Cloud - The Republican Party of Minnesota issued the following statement congratulating newly elected State Party Chairman, Pat Shortridge. Shortridge was elected at today's State Central Committee meeting for the Republican Party of Minnesota with 224 votes.

"I am thankful to the delegates of the Republican Party of Minnesota State Central Committee for electing me to serve as Chairman of the State Party. I look forward to working with Deputy Chair Kelly Fenton, the staff, and activists to reorganize and reenergize our Party for the upcoming 2012 elections.

Many thanks for all your efforts on our behalf in the 2010 election cycle. Because of your hard work, our strong lineup of candidates, and our message of less government and lower taxes, we were able to win a strong majority in the House of Representatives. We've started to make important progress to restructure and reform government.

2011 has been a challenging year on so many levels - in our state and around the world.  And so it is with great optimism that we all look ahead to 2012 and the upcoming election cycle.  I know we are all looking forward to building our majorities in the State House and Senate.  As we are strengthening our caucuses, so must we ready our State Party to lead and support our BPOU's and candidates to victory.  This is why I am supporting Pat Shortridge for State Party Chair.  Pat has the experience to quickly put our party organization in order, the vision to lead our grassroots and candidates, the integrity to attract donors and volunteers, and the conviction to support our endorsed candidates through Election Day and beyond.
 
Kurt Daudt - State Rep. 17A, State Vice Chair CD8

Jack Tomczak and Mark Westpfahl co-moderate the HD39B MnGOP Chair Candidate Forum with candidates Todd McIntyre, Terry McCall, and Pat Shortridge.

This file is also available if you subscribe to the Late Debate podcast through iTunes.

Below is a copy of my endorsement letter for Todd McIntyre, sent today to State Central delegates and alternates. In full disclosure, I signed on early with Todd to support his campaign after he called me to announce he was running:

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After the exodus of several Republican party leaders in Minnesota, Sarah Janecek is doing yeoman's citizen journalist work connecting dots on a deeper level in relation to expanded gambling. She began a series of "Follow The Money" on her Facebook page, and I highlighted parts 1-6 here. You can now read all of her articles on the subject at SarahJanecek.com.

Part 7 discusses another prominent former leader, Michael Brodkorb:

Pat Shortridge announced today that he was in the race for RPM Chair with this letter to delegates:

I’m Pat Shortridge and I’m a candidate for party chairman.  Let me tell you a little bit about who I am, what I’ve done, and my vision for our party.  
 
ABOUT ME
I was born and raised in Winona, MN.  I live in Lino Lakes with my wife, Christi, and our three children.  The kids are the fifth generation to call MN home, and they are the reason I’m running for this job. 

When MNGOP Chair Tony Sutton resigned in early December, the focus was on finances. Prior to his resignation, Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb resigned to work on Mike Parry's congressional campaign. Last Friday, we learned about Koch's allegations and Brodkorb's abrupt departure from the Republican Senate. Dots were being connected over the weekend on that relationship. Many of us had antennae up for a deeper layer of dots, one that a prominent leader discussed with me in a private group. As I'm relatively new to the party, I kept it to myself and hoped to learn more.

Yesterday, Sarah Janecek did some "citizen reporting" and put up a 5-part "Follow The Money" series on Facebook:

Pretty simple. Raise more, spend less, and win.

Saturday morning, New Year's Eve morning, hundreds of Republican leaders and activists assembled in the St. Cloud Civic Center to discuss the budget and elect a new Chairman. The party has been left dazed and confused thanks to former Chair Tony Sutton. His erratic resignation on December 2nd, with out warning, plus what now appears to be years of undocumented spending and debt, forced activists to waste time debating a new Chair as well as audits.

Would a Chair McCall not only part ways with Ron Paul if he abandoned the GOP, but defend the endorsed candidate from Paul attacks?

We’ve been here before. I’m speaking of the Central Committee of the MNGOP. In 2008 we held an election for party chair. The candidates were Dave Thompson, who ran on messaging conservative principles, and Tony Sutton, perhaps the state’s best political operative. We chose the operative over the communicator. How’s that working out for us?

Here's a letter of support from some of Pat Shortridge's former staffers who have seen him in action in the past.

Dear Friends,

Whether you are a delegate or alternate at tomorrow’s State Central Committee meeting in St. Cloud, you all share something in common, that being an integral foundation and the core component of the Republican Party of Minnesota.  Without you, the future of our Party would be bleak, but together when we work in tandem with one another, our Party’s future couldn’t be brighter.

There is a serious amount of concern being raised by Republican activists regarding Terry McCall's loyalty to the Republican Party. The fact is the chances of Ron Paul winning the Presidential nomination are slim to none. In 2008, McCall admits that he could not even hold his nose and vote for the endorsed candidate John McCain.

In an email yesterday, McCall admitted he didn't vote for McCain in 2008.

McCall for Chair email 12/28/11: "as a deeply principled conservative I could not vote for the Republican candidate"

Contrary to media reports, the Senate Republicans are picking their new leader today, not the new Chair of the MNGOP. Its tiresome to see them repeatedly imply that the Senate leader is the party leader. That Legislators are in some way Party leaders and Party Chairs are controlling every Legislator.  But we never seem to push back and draw the line of distinction so the public just buys that pap.

Read the rest of this at Residual Forces

This morning Terry McCall launched his campaign website and wrote me this letter in reponse to the post/rant I wrote on December 6th following the Sutton resignation announcement. After the intro letter He replies to the statements I made in my original post.

Hello Derek,

Today, I am announcing that I will be seeking the Chair Role.  Currently I am serving as the CD2 Chairman, and have been active in the party at all levels for 20 years.  In the past I have served on the CD3 Executive Committee and was Finance Chair.  I've even been a campaign manager, ran for a House seat in 2004, been a State Central Delegate for many years, and was an Alternate at the 2008 Nat'l Convention.  I've been active on many campaigns including Norm Coleman's and more recently on Tom Emmer's.

MNGOP has an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the tough situation we face. Each of us has our way of determining whom we believe will best fill the vacant position of  MNGOP chairman.

Our window is short but I have done considerable research regarding MNGOP Chairman candidate, Pat Shortridge.

My reasons for my support and endorsement of Pat Shortridge  include the following key components:

CD2 Chairman Terry McCall announced today that he was in the race for RPM Chair with this letter to delegates:

As you know, our party is faces an unprecedented crisis. The unexpected resignation of former Chairman Tony Sutton, has Constitutionally bound us with filling this vacancy within 30 days. The Chair election will take place at the State Central Committee meeting on Dec 31st, in St Cloud.

I’m supporting Pat Shortridge for Republican Party of Minnesota Chair. I first got to know about Shortridge during the 2006 Mark Kennedy campaign as a blogger for KvM. While the rear view mirror of the 2006 election is bleak, if you were in the trenches with him and saw how he ran the campaign, it could have been worse.