In another political bid, Tim Pawlenty, former governor of Minnesota and candidate for president back in 2011, lost in Minnesota’s gubernatorial primary on Tuesday. This comes as somewhat of a surprise, given Pawlenty enjoyed higher name recognition and fundraising success than the victor, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson.
Pawlenty’s failed gubernatorial bid is likely due to a combination of at least two factors. When Trump was running for president, Pawlenty notoriously said Trump was “unfit and unhinged.” Minnesota isn’t exactly Trump country — the state went for Hillary Clinton in 2016 — but not by as much as one would think. For a state that tends to lean liberal — it’s home to Jesse Ventura in the Green Party of late, former Democratic Sen. Al Franken, Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, and former Democratic Vice President Walter Mondale — Clinton won by a narrow margin, 46.4 percent to Trump’s 44.9 percent. While Trump’s popularity has decreased in Minnesota since last year, his narrow loss remains palpable: A lot of Minnesotans still like him.
Pawlenty himself acknowledged this was the main reason. Tuesday night, while speaking to reporters, Pawlenty said, “The Republican Party has shifted. It is the era of Trump, and I’m just not a Trump-like politician.”
Another reason Pawlenty may have lost is because he is a known establishment guy: He served as Minnesota’s governor for two terms and then lobbied after his failed presidential bid. He’s nice, hard-working, and sharp — but over the years developed a reputation as a bit of a Republican in name only. The primary results can be interpreted based on who turned out to vote. Was the GOP turnout near record highs or just DFL (Minnesota’s official term for Democrat)? If turnout was low, then Johnson won a low-turnout affair as the candidate endorsed by the Republican Party, making it easier to beat a well-known candidate like Pawlenty. If turnout was high, and the candidate with high name-recognition still lost, that points to a rejection of Pawlenty himself.
Most of Johnson’s votes came from rural and suburban Minnesota, with Pawlenty claiming his usual counties south of St. Paul. Republicans nationwide and in Minnesota seemed to vote more conservative, and in the end, that wave was too much for Pawlenty to earn a third GOP nomination for governor.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
