HD47A: gun fight breaks out in Nash-Frey endorsement battle before May 15 GOP convention

Carver County's Republican endorsement battle for the open seat created by the retirement of Ernie Leidiger is heading into the final days before the May 15 convention. Bob Frey, an extreme social conservative businessman who is Glenn Gruenhagen's campaign committee chair, is squared off with Waconia mayor Jim Nash.

Frey has netted endorsements by Leidiger, Representatives Glenn Gruenhagen, Cindy Pugh, Jim Newberger, Joe McDonald and Steve Drazkowski, while Nash has garnered support from grassroots conservative leaders like anti-Common Cause activist Marjorie Holsten, and gun right activists like Andrew Rothman and Rob Doar, as well as the endorsement of the Minnesota Gun Owners Political Action Committee.

On his campaign Facebook page, Frey is posting letters of support from the legislators. Newberger writes that the race is one of the most important in the state, while Gruenhagen writes that "Bob is driven by conservative convictions and puts them into action."

We post a group letter of endorsement; we post it here.

Nash's most voracious backers seem to be the grassroots Second Amendment defenders. Nash earned the affections of the Minnesota Gun Owners Political Action Committee members after he testified in 2013 against a gun control bill before the Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee. The group endorsed him in February.

But the bitterness of the battle is reflected in a May 10 newsletter article by the MNGOPAC chair Mark Okern, May 10th - With friends like these, who needs enemies?:

. . .But there are also Republicans who would put their personal vendettas above our rights, and that needs to end right now,today, and we need your help to put a stop to it.

MNGOPAC is a single-issue political action committee. We want to put the best pro-gun candidate in office, and we view someone attacking our endorsed candidates as an attack on our Second Amendment rights.

Last week I talked about our endorsed candidate for House District 47A, Mayor Jim Nash of Waconia. Jim has been running a heck of a campaign, going from door to door, making countless phone calls, attending events all over his district and in neighboring areas, and in return he has been the strong frontrunner in his race.

Unfortunately, a standing lawmaker who would rather send your pro-2A donations out of state to a non-Minnesota run organization is also trying to sabotage Jim’s campaign.

Since Jim is one of the strongest pro-gun candidates in the state in any race, we’re taking this one personally.

Representative Glenn Gruenhagen started out the year with a letter of support for a group BASED IN IOWA that claims to fight for your Second Amendment rights at the capitol.

Never mind that we have solid, successful pro-2A groups that are based in Minnesota such as MNGOPAC, GOCRA, Twin Cities Gun Owners & Carry Forum…no, Gruenhagen decided that his support was best outsourced.

Gruenhagen has also written letters of support for Nash’s opponent for the GOP endorsement.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t trust someone who thinks that Iowa residents are the best advocates for Minnesotans. In my opinion, it shows a horrible lack of good judgement, and you can bet we’ll be looking long and hard at Gruenhagen’s track record to see if he’s really the most pro-rights candidate in his district.

In the meantime, you can help make a statement against this kind of dirty politics.

Support Jim Nash, who supports your Second Amendment rights without exception. Jim still needs help getting the word out before his endorsing convention next week, and I promise you that your work will be appreciated by Jim and by all pro-gun Minnesotans when gun owners get Jim elected to serve in St. Paul as a rock-solid advocate for our rights.