Scott Jensen says Republican Party should change course on abortion, endorsements
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Scott Jensen, center, speaks at a 2022 campaign event. Photo: Torey Van Oot/Axios
The 2022 GOP nominee for Minnesota governor is urging fellow Republicans to rethink their "broken" endorsement process — and their stance on abortion — to give candidates a better shot at appealing to voters outside of the party's base.
Why it matters: In a podcast interview released last week, Scott Jensen said the expectation that GOP candidates abide by the endorsement and drop out if they fail to secure the backing of the activists who serve as delegates pushes nominees to embrace positions that make it more difficult to win in a general election.
What he's saying: "We have an activist group that plays the five-yard line on two issues in this party and it's guns and abortion," Jensen, who won last year's endorsement after a grueling floor fight, said in a wide-ranging interview with local politics podcast, "The Break Down with Brodkorb and Becky."
- "We just need to say, 'Listen, we're not gonna give a dollar to a candidate that doesn't pledge to go to the primary,'" Jensen added, expressing support for moving that vote up to June.
Catch up fast: Jensen, who had a reputation as a moderate maverick during his one term in the state Senate, veered to the right on both abortion and gun control issues ahead of the state party's endorsing convention last year.
- A pledge during that time to ban all abortions fueled millions of dollars in attack ads from DFL-aligned groups. He lost to incumbent Democratic Gov. Tim Walz by about 7 percentage points.
Zoom out: The GOP's midterm losses in Minnesota have sparked introspection and debate among Republicans over what it would finally take to break a 16-year statewide losing streak.
Zoom in: Jensen said that while he's ultimately responsible for messaging missteps and "ill-advised remarks" made during his campaign, the need to court conservative delegates prompted him to take stances that painted him into a corner ahead of the general election.
The other side: Minnesota Republican Party chair David Hann told Axios that while he supports moving state primaries to June and broadening the delegate base, encouraging GOP candidates to continue to campaign without the endorsement would undermine the process.
- " I think that if a candidate doesn't really believe the positions that they're taking (in) the attempt to get endorsed, then they made a fundamental error," he said. "... I don't really buy the argument that, 'Well, I didn't really agree with all these things but I was forced to say them to get endorsed.'"
Between the lines: Jensen said while he remains personally opposed to abortion, polling and results of the 2022 elections suggest Republicans should rethink their approach and focus instead on efforts to reduce the need for legal abortions.
- "We can be pro-life from a personal perspective, and we can be pro-choice from a policy perspective," adding that he would no longer support a full ban.
The intrigue: Jensen expressed support for putting a constitutional amendment on abortion on the ballot — a top priority for some Democrats — arguing that the issue should be decided by voters, not a "legislative hot potato."
What we're watching: Jensen said he hasn't ruled out running for governor in 2026.
- Regardless of who runs, Jensen mentioned that he — and several deep-pocketed donors he's talked with — are unlikely to support a candidate who agrees to abide by the GOP endorsement.