Co-Chair of Kurt Bills’ Disastrous U.S. Senate Campaign & Losing State Senate Candidate Now Running for MN GOP Chairman

Keith Downey, the co-chair Kurt Bills’ disastrous U.S. Senate campaign in 2012 – which earned 30 percent of the vote against U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar –  has announced he is running for chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota.  A former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Downey most recently lost in 2012 to replace Senator Geoff Michel in the Minnesota Senate.  

It’s widely accepted that Downey has his eyes on higher office – he didn’t rule out running for governor in 2014, while he was campaigning for the state senate in 2012. Becoming chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota is not stepping stone to run for higher office and based on the “strategery” Downey provided to Bills’ campaign, it’s clear Republicans in Minnesota haven’t learned many lessons from the 2012 elections.  For Republicans who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for 2014 to be a great year, Downey becoming chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota isn’t a good start.    

Republicans have seen Downey’s leadership and political judgement at the helm of a statewide campaign and it was a disaster.  Turning the keys to a major political party to him is allowing history to be repeated.