Trail mix: Another candidate drops from Minnesota governor's race
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Minnesota's GOP field for governor shrank again Friday, when Rep. Kristin Robbins suspended her campaign.
State of play: The endorsement battle is essentially a three-way race between House Speaker Lisa Demuth, repeat candidate Kendall Qualls and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
Between the lines: Robbins raised a respectable amount of cash out of the gate, but struggled to gain traction among GOP delegates, in part due to her support of Nikki Haley over Donald Trump in 2024 GOP presidential primary.
The intrigue: Robbins said she'll be a"private citizen" in 2027, signaling she still won't run for a Maple Grove Senate seat that could determine control of that chamber.
- She told Fox9 that she will "not be endorsing anyone."
The other side: U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is the frontrunner for the DFL nomination.
What's next: The GOP endorsing convention is the weekend of May 29.
🫏 In other campaign news... Dan Wolgamott, a DFL state representative running in a crowded primary for auditor, announced Friday that he's rescinding his endorsement of Angie Craig for U.S. Senate and throwing his support behind Peggy Flanagan.
Friction point: Wolgamott cited Craig's votes related to ICE, saying his wife and family experienced "very real and very traumatic" fear and racial profiling during Operation Metro Surge.
- "No amount of regret can undo the trauma caused by ICE in Minnesota," he said, referencing Craig's walk-back of her Laken Riley Act vote.
The other side: Craig, whose supporters point to other ways she's pushed back against ICE, travels to El Paso on Monday to visit a constituent who's been held at a processing center, despite needing medical treatment for an ovarian cyst.
The bottom line: The reversal by Wolgamott, who represents a St. Cloud swing seat that Trump won in 2024, underscores how pivotal the ICE issue is for DFL primaries.
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