A former President of the Minnesota Senate, and longtime GOP delegate Dave Osmek says he's leaving the Republican party after being a delegate for with the GOP for more than twenty years.
Osmek (R-Mound) said this week he made the decision after last weekend's state convention, that included controversy over the endorsement of a candidate for governor.
"I cannot be part of this any longer," Osmek explains. "Among other things, including the balloting that took place, that really that whole on Saturday, that whole balloting system, it was corrupt from the second ballot on. It wasn't just the last one."
In fact, Osmek tells WCCO's Adam and Jordana, the endorsement conventions shouldn't take place anymore.
"It's time for it to go. It's a relic, and I think, by the way, Democrats have the same problem," Osmek says. "The system is now being corrupted by small pockets of individuals with very loud voices and threatening behaviors."
Osmek also says his departure should be a wake-up call for both Republicans and Democrats.
"For me to walk away says something very critical and important that the system for statewide offices is broken," Osmek explains. "You may want to keep the endorsement system and the caucus system for the lower ballot, for state reps and state senators. Even then I'd sort of question it because there's some corruption there too."
His Republican credentials aren't new, and aren't marginal. Osmek was a state senator for ten years and served as the Senate President for a year. He also was the 2022 GOP state convention chair, so he knows how they work - or don't work.
Osmek says he is still a Republican and will help out candidates that he wants to support. Previously, as a delegate, he was obligated to support who the party endorsed.
As for this year's race for governor, despite his issues with the party, he says House Speaker Lisa Demuth is getting his vote. Demuth He also said he supports former NBC sports reporter and WCCO Radio host Michele Tafoya, in her primary battle against former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze, who won the Republican Party endorsement at the state convention.
On Thursday, the Minnesota GOP said it's standing by it's original gubernatorial endorsement following that dispute over the vote. The state party's executive committee voted unanimously Wednesday that state party Chair Alex Plechash "lacked the authority" to release candidates from their loyalty pledges, confirming that only officially endorsed candidate Kendall Qualls will receive party resources.
Plechash said in a statement, "I fully realize that my earlier statement created confusion."
This decision comes after Demuth launched a primary challenge anyway, citing initial confusion surrounding convention voting irregularities. Voters will now decide how this internal party friction impacts the Republican ticket in the upcoming August primary election.
Osmek also takes issue with Chauvin moment of silence
There was one moment at the GOP convention that stuck out to observers, and that was holding a moment of silence for convicted murderer, Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who held his knee on George Floyd's neck for nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on the street calling out "I can't breathe" in 2020.
Osmek went so far to say it was "stupid," and the reaction from others in the GOP - including Plechash, Demuth, Qualls, Schwarze and others - required an apology. He pointed to an interview earlier this week with Schwarze, and WCCO Radio's Jason DeRusha.
"Adam Schwarze's response to a simple question, which is about this Derek Chauvin moment of silence, it was the most disjointed juvenile, grade school answer I've ever seen," Osmek said.
Schwarze answered DeRusha's question about the moment by saying he wasn't there in the room when it happened.
"You're not going to be on the floor for every debate, you're not going to be on the floor for every comment, you are not going to be there in the United States Senate for everything," Osmek said. "You're going to have meetings. For you to say you're not there, because you don't answer, because you weren't there, was juvenile. It was grade school. It was stupid."
As for the actual moment of silence, Osmek was just as emphatic about that too.
"My response is that is just stupid, and it is a sorry state of affairs, and the chair refused to rule it out of order," he adds. "And I have been a state central chair of the state central committee, I was the state convention chair in 2022, I know what I'm talking about. The chair can rule that as out of order and he should have immediately."
Osmek also says the convention floor is not the time nor the place for a debate about Chauvin, and that is "not the work they are there to do."
"That's why I turned in my resignation," he added.
"I cannot be part of this any longer," Osmek told WCCO's Adam and Jordana
"I cannot be part of this any longer," Osmek told WCCO's Adam and Jordana
