Former Central Minnesota Representative Running for MNGOP Chair

(KNSI) – Former District 15B Representative Jim Newberger is the first person to put their hat in the ring to become the next chair of the Minnesota Republican Party. His candidacy comes after former Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan resigned last week following the indictment of a close associate and GOP donor on sex trafficking charges.

Newberger represented the Foley, Rice, Becker, Clearwater and Clear Lake area in the Minnesota House from 2013 to 2018, and he ran as the Republican candidate against Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar for her seat in the 2018 election.

Newberger was a guest of KNSI’s Dan “The Ox” Ochsner and said the party needs to get moving with redistricting, conventions, endorsements, and primary and general elections coming up in the next 15 months.

“I’ve been through all of this before, all of the restructuring, all of the management of this,” Newberger said. “I know what this looks like, I know what needs to be done and I’m willing to step up and do this.

“The first thing I’m going to do is I’m going to create a calendar,” Newberger continued. “A calendar for us to sit down and we’re going to say, ‘This is what’s coming up and this is how we get it done,’ because if you don’t have a vision or if you don’t have a path, you’re lost.”

The next thing Newberger said he will do, if elected, is to resolve the party’s legal and financial issues.

“We’re going to take a fresh look at our finances, we’re going to do an independent audit, we’re going to plug the holes, we’re going to stop the bleeding and start the healing.”

Newberger called the allegations of child sex trafficking against GOP donor Tony Lazzaro and college GOP leader Gisela Medina Castro “absolutely unacceptable.”

“But as far as internal strife, things that are going on now, we’re going to get through this because we have to,” he said. “We have no choice. We have to pull together because the issues that are facing us today are just so important.”

The MNGOP’s State Central Committee is planning to hold a meeting on October 2nd to elect a new party chair. So far, Newberger is the only candidate. State Sen. Mark Koran of North Branch, who ran against Carnahan in the last MNGOP chair election this past spring, has said he will not run for the position this time around.

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