GOP calls Doug Wardlow a liar for not dropping out of attorney general race
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- One week from Tuesday is the Minnesota primary. And in one of the races, the Minnesota Republican Party is dealing with a civil war.
Jim Schultz is the party nominee for attorney general. Doug Wardlow said he would drop out of the race if he didn't get the nomination, but he is still running. The winner of the Schultz-Wardlow showdown will go on to face Keith Ellison in the November election.
"We are going to let the the 200,000 to 300,000 Republicans and the larger electorate decide who the nominee will be," Wardlow told WCCO's Esme Murphy in a Sunday interview.
Now, party leaders are going to unusual lengths to criticize Wardlow. In an unusual move, the party is calling Wardlow a liar on its own website for failing to honor the endorsement.
"We are very disappointed that he did this, and we are trying to be as aggressive as we can be to support the candidates we have endorsed," party chair David Hann said.
Both Wardlow and Schultz are against abortion rights. Wardlow is more aggressive, saying he wants to "go to war" over the issue. He is also the attorney for Mike Lindall, who has issued numerous false statements of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election..
Political analyst Larry Jacobs says its a Trump-like showdown for Republicans.
"You have the Donald Trump-like candidate in Doug Wardlow, and you have got a conservative more traditional candidate in Jim Schultz," Jacobs said.
Jacobs says the intensity of this battle likely means one thing -- it's a close race.
Stay with WCCO.com and CBS News Minnesota for continuing coverage of the 2022 primary elections.