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In the latest episode of The Brodkorb Report, Becky Alery and I discuss the results of the 2022 elections. Becky gives her blunt assessment of the possibility of former President Donald Trump running for president in 2024. The Brodkorb Report will be available in the coming weeks on all podcast platforms.
Please listen to the latest episode below and let me know your thoughts!
I spoke to Politico about the need for Republicans to move past Donald Trump and how Republicans have made this difficult.
Trump has survived bad election nights before, often by denying the results themselves. He still has not conceded his own loss in 2020 to Joe Biden — a denialism that has reached many elected officials in his party. On Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, a similar wave of election conspiracy theorizing erupted online to dismiss the idea that the midterms had been any sort of repudiation of Trump, let alone a lackluster night for Republicans.
In part, for this reason, some GOP operatives argued, it would remain difficult to imagine Trump being dethroned any time soon as the party’s kingmaker.
“It’s like telling your kid they need to go clean their room, and they deny the room exists,” explained Michael Brodkorb, a former deputy chair of the Minnesota Republican Party.
“Donald Trump should be politically dead. They should recognize that,” he said. “But of course, they won’t … That’s the beauty of not living in the real world.”
Click here to read the complete story from Politico.
For much of my life, I spent every day working to defeat DFL candidates up and down the ballot in Minnesota. The Republican Party I helped build and lead to great success in past elections is hardly existent today. Over the last decade, I’ve offered analysis and commentary about the need for the party and its candidates to change direction and focus.
But when our democratic institutions are under attack, we all have a shared responsibility to speak up. I can’t stay on the sidelines while extremists like Kim Crockett are within a few percentage points of statewide office. Because without those democratic institutions, no political party has any mooring. Therefore, I am voting for Steve Simon for Minnesota’s Secretary of State.
I have never publicly endorsed a Democrat for partisan office in Minnesota. Instead, I’ve waited until Election Day and then, like many Minnesotans, voted a split ticket in the privacy of a voting booth.
I’ve known Steve Simon through many drama-free years. But even in a highly charged political environment, he was never the cause of the drama; rather, he steered a steady course through it. A well-spoken lawyer with a progression of experience in government is almost cliche, but normalcy has become Simon’s greatest asset.
When the pandemic put Minnesota’s status as the leader in voter turnout into question, Simon remained calm. He tailored his policy to Minnesotans’ needs, shepherding a bipartisan package of emergency measures through the legislature in one of the most contentious years for our country.
As a result, Minnesota led the nation in voter turnout in 2020. Minnesota was among the few battleground states to report a winner on election night. Simon’s preparations spared Minnesota from the unrest in Nevada, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.
After the dust settled, Secretary Simon went back to work. In 2021, he collaborated with a divided state legislature to create trust in ballot drop boxes statewide through codified guidelines and grants. Simon also found time in the year to tour every county in the state, ensuring that county officials have a chance to voice their concerns in person.
A top official with the Republican Party of Minnesota said in an interview today that is likely that none of the Republican presidential electors or alternates from Minnesota were elected in compliance with Minnesota election law.
James Carson, who is the Chair of the Republican Party in Minnesota’s Fourth Congressional District, said that based on the wording of Minnesota Statutes 208.03, “it is likely none of the Republican electors were legally elected.”
While Carson said he strongly believes the Republican Party of Minnesota State Executive was authorized to select alternate presidential electors, his comments will only increase the possibility that a legal challenge will be filed to determine if Minnesota Republicans followed the law to get Donald Trump’s name on the ballot in Minnesota.
Carson was unaware of the exact wording of Minnesota Statutes 208.03, which requires presidential electors and alternates to be “nominated by delegate conventions” until I asked him if today in our interview if Republicans followed the law in how they selected their presidential electors and alternates.
A high-ranking Republican elected official from Minnesota on Saturday offered similar comments in response to questions about the process used by the Republican Party of Minnesota to ensure Trump’s name is on the ballot.
“It was bungled and botched. Their fix won’t work,” said the Republican elected official, who requested anonymity, as they have publicly endorsed Trump’s candidacy.
The comments came after the Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Keith Downey told the press last Thursday that the Republican Party of Minnesota “forgot to elect alternate electors” at the Republican Party of Minnesota’s State Convention in May:
State GOP Chairman Keith Downey told reporters at the State Fair that the party forgot to elect alternate electors, those people who actually pick a president in the country’s Electoral College process.
Legal Challenge to Trump Name on Ballot Expected
In an interview with FOX 9 last week, David Schultz, who is a professor at Hamline University and the University of Minnesota Law School said a lawsuit will likely be filed.
“It’s going to wind up in the courts if for no other reason than to create mischief for the Republican Party,” Schultz told Fox 9. “I think the Minnesota Supreme Court would probably err on the side of allowing the Republican Party and their electors, on the ballot.”
As I reported yesterday, the rumblings of possible legal challenges have only gotten stronger since last week and I would expect legal challenges within the coming days and weeks to determine if Minnesota Republicans followed the law to get Donald Trump’s name on the ballot in Minnesota.
A top Republican elected official from Minnesota told me on Saturday that the Republican Party of Minnesota should prepare for lawsuit to determine if Minnesota Republicans followed the law to get Donald Trump’s name on the ballot in Minnesota.
“It was bungled and botched. Their fix won’t work,” said the Republican elected official, who requested anonymity, as they have publicly endorsed Trump’s candidacy.
The comments come after the Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Keith Downey told the press last Thursday that the Republican Party of Minnesota “forgot to elect alternate electors” at the Republican Party of Minnesota’s State Convention in May:
State GOP Chairman Keith Downey told reporters at the State Fair that the party forgot to elect alternate electors, those people who actually pick a president in the country’s Electoral College process.
According to media reports of Downey press conference on Thursday, Downey said the “Republican State Central Committee” voted on Wednesday evening to correct the problem:
But the party’s constitution allows the Republican State Central Committee to do that, he said, and everything is good since the committee voted on the issue Wednesday night.
If Downey was quoted correctly and he said the “Republican State Central Committee” had a meeting last Wednesday evening, then there is a problem.
Republican Party of Minnesota State Central Committee Didn’t Meet
The “Republican State Central Committee” is the comprised of over 300 delegates from across Minnesota and there is usually only two meetings of the committee per year.
The Bylaws of the Republican Party of Minnesota all requires at least a ten day written notice to be mailed in advance of any meeting of the State Central Committee.
If Downey said the “Republican State Central Committee” had a meeting on Wednesday evening, then he was mistaken and again — they have a problem.
Republican Party of Minnesota State Executive Committee Did Meet
Downey may have been misquoted or he misspoke, but we do know the Republican Party of Minnesota State Executive Committee did meet on Wednesday evening.
The Constitution of the Republican Party of Minnesota establishes the 15 person membership of the State Executive Committee:
1. The state chair, deputy chair, secretary and treasurer;
2. The national committeeman and committeewoman;
3. One district chair from each Congressional District or a Congressional District representative as provided for in the Congressional District constitution or bylaws who shall serve until a successor is elected;
4. The state finance chair.
The State Executive Committee has no authority in the Constitution of the Republican Party of Minnesota to appoint, nominate, or elect presidential electors or alternates.
One former member of the Republican Party of Minnesota State Executive Committee, Dave Thul, sent out tweet last week questioning the authority of the committee to appoint, nominate, or elect presidential electors or alternates:
The biggest problem for Republicans in Minnesota is that the process for selecting presidential electors is established in law and they did not follow it for selecting the Republican presidential electors and alternates:
According to Minnesota Statutes 208.03:
Presidential electors and alternates for the major political parties of this state shall be nominated by delegate conventions called and held under the supervision of the respective state central committees of the parties of this state. At least 71 days before the general election day the chair of the major political party shall certify to the secretary of state the names of the persons nominated as presidential electors, the names of persons nominated as alternate presidential electors, and the names of the party candidates for president and vice president. The chair shall also certify that the party candidates for president and vice president have no affidavit on file as a candidate for any office in this state at the ensuing general election.
The remedy to correct Republicans forgetting to elect alternate electors at the Republican Party of Minnesota’s State Convention in May, was to call another convention — but they didn’t do it.
Legal Challenge to Trump Name on Ballot Expected
In an interview with FOX 9 last week, David Schultz, who is a professor at Hamline University and the University of Minnesota Law School said a lawsuit will likely be filed.
“It’s going to wind up in the courts if for no other reason than to create mischief for the Republican Party,” Schultz told Fox 9. “I think the Minnesota Supreme Court would probably err on the side of allowing the Republican Party and their electors, on the ballot.”
Since last week, the rumblings of possible legal challenges have only gotten stronger and I would expect legal challenges within the coming days and weeks to determine if Minnesota Republicans followed the law to get Donald Trump’s name on the ballot in Minnesota.
Donald Trump’s name is officially on the ballot in Minnesota, but voters should prepare themselves for lawsuits to be filed to challenge if Minnesota Republicans followed the law to get his name on the ballot.
Since Donald Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, are the candidates for president and vice-president of a “major political party” in Minnesota — the Republican Party — the process to get their names on the ballot is very simple.
Below is the process for presidential and vice-presidential candidates of major political party candidates to be placed on the ballot:
The problem started for the Republican Party of Minnesota when they failed to ensure ten people were “nominated as alternate presidential electors” as established by law.
According to Minnesota Statutes 208.03:
Presidential electors and alternates for the major political parties of this state shall be nominated by delegate conventions called and held under the supervision of the respective state central committees of the parties of this state. At least 71 days before the general election day the chair of the major political party shall certify to the secretary of state the names of the persons nominated as presidential electors, the names of persons nominated as alternate presidential electors, and the names of the party candidates for president and vice president. The chair shall also certify that the party candidates for president and vice president have no affidavit on file as a candidate for any office in this state at the ensuing general election.
The Republican Party of Minnesota did not nominate nor elect presidential alternate electors at the Republican State Convention in May.
Below is the “Certificate of Nomination” which was certified by Keith Downey, the Chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota, and released yesterday afternoon.
The potential legal problem for the Republican Party of Minnesota is most of their alternate electors were not “nominated by delegate conventions” but instead they were appointed by party officials.
In fact one party official, Randy Gilbert, appointed himself to be an alternate elector without officially notifying Republicans in the area he represents — Minnesota’s Third Congressional District.
Below is the confirmed list of alternate electors who were not “nominated by delegate conventions” as required by law.
Republicans in Minnesota have taken to Twitter to challenge the process used by the Republican Party in Minnesota to get Trump’s name placed on the ballot in Minnesota.
After Monday, Prepare for Possible Legal Challenges
Downey told the Pioneer Press in an interview yesterday that he first learned of the problem with Trump’s name being submitted to the Minnesota’s Secretary of State on August 3.
But instead of calling for another convention to ensure all of Minnesota’s ten alternate electors were “nominated by delegate conventions” as required by law, Downey presided over a meeting weeks later were most of the alternate electors were appointed, which created this messy situation and could jeopardize Trump being on the ballot in Minnesota.
The deadline for a “major political party” in Minnesota to certify the information needed for candidates for president and vice-president is days way — Monday, August 29, 2016.
After Monday’s deadline passes, voters in Minnesota should prepare for possible legal challenges to the process used by Minnesota Republicans to get Trump and Pence on the ballot.
In an interview with FOX 9 yesterday, David Schultz, who is a professor at Hamline University and the University of Minnesota Law School said a lawsuit will likely be filed.
“It’s going to wind up in the courts if for no other reason than to create mischief for the Republican Party,” Schultz told Fox 9. “I think the Minnesota Supreme Court would probably err on the side of allowing the Republican Party and their electors, on the ballot.”
The election is 73 days away, but the first big election lawsuit may be coming to courthouse in Minnesota very soon.