Demuth is staying in race for governor setting up three-way primary battle with Qualls and Lindell

"I am happy to tell you that the Demuth-Wilson ticket has just filed for the primary," said Demuth, who lost to Kendall Qualls in last weekend's GOP nomination convention in Duluth, setting up a crowded Republican primary on August 11.

The state convention was beset by technology issues, and it led to questions about the nominating process.

"The number one factor was the fact that yesterday, as the state party chair came out with a message saying that there were enough anomalies that no one was going to be held to that endorsement because of the process that took place on Saturday. That felt like a full release that we could go forward," Demuth explained Tuesday.

On Monday, Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Alex Plechash released a statement in support of Qualls and the process at the convention, but he also acknowledged “a significant disruption during the fifth round of balloting," effectively paving the way for Demuth to remain in the race after earlier saying she would abide by the party choice.

"Our phones have absolutely been blowing up," added Demuth. "We are hearing from Minnesotans that are saying, 'go forward in this, we need you,' and that's what has made our decision."

The move by the Republican Party to, in essence, give permission for candidates to continue despite the party support for Qualls empowered Demuth to stay in.

"That felt like a full release that we could go forward," she explained. We fully know that Minnesotans know we are the strongest ticket to defeat the Democrat machine here in Minnesota. I, as you well know, am a proven fighter."

Qualls stays confident he will win but is critical of Demuth's decision

Qualls, speaking to WCCO's Chad Hartman Monday, said he welcomes the challenge and believes he will still come out on top, but also said there's some hypocrisy in the decision by Demuth, and pointed to his own decision in 2022 not to challenge the party endorsement of Dr. Scott Jensen.

"The reason I did not challenge that endorsement is because our primary is so close to the general election that we as a party would be fighting all the way through, right to the edge of the general election," Qualls explained. "It is not successful, and so I put my ego in the second position. I abided by the endorsement and supported Scott Jensen. This is no different."

WCCO political analyst Blois Olson says the decision, after this past weekend's breakdowns, is not a surprise.

"Yesterday I told you the door was open more than a crack," Olson said Tuesday morning. "Plechash opened the door and pretty much shooed her through it. I think the questions will be, how can you win? I think the questions are, what are the issues you're going to campaign on? Where are you different than Kendall Qualls?"

Olson also added that many on the Republican side of the aisle were hoping for a showdown in the primary.

"I think it's the primary that Republican activists kind of want," said Olson. "They want this to play out. So you have Kendall Qualls, Mike Lindell, Lisa Demuth, and then there might be a couple of others. But it'll be basically a three-way race between those guys."

As for Qualls, he said in the end, he is confident he will take on the Democrat in the race, current U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar. But already, there are biting comments towards his GOP challenger.

“As recently as this weekend, Lisa Demuth committed to abiding by the party endorsement and respecting the decision of thousands of Republican delegates," Qualls said Tuesday morning in a statement. "Now, she is putting vanity and political ambitions ahead of giving Republicans their best chance in decades to elect a conservative governor. But it doesn’t matter. We have won 17 of 19 straw polls including the Super Bowl – the Statewide Convention in Duluth. The sad part is that when we win in August, we will have wasted time and money fighting amongst ourselves to come to the same conclusion: victory for our campaign."