Good morning.  This school year is about over. Hard to believe, eh?

The Republican Party is in for the biggest test in some time to its usually golden endorsement. Lisa Demuth filed for the August primary yesterday, putting the House speaker up against businessmen Kendall Qualls and Mike Lindell among others. Qualls is the endorsed Republican candidate but the state party gave other candidates a free pass after a problematic convention. Party leaders say they’ll defend their endorsement, but Demuth and Lindell promise to spend big. In Demuth’s case, there’s already a group airing comic book-themed ads casting Demuth as a superhero. There’s a lot of money behind the group, Restore Sanity. It takes just a plurality to win a three-way race (with some minor players also on the ballot) so it will be interesting to see how the candidates go about this next phase. Not even a former governor, Tim Pawlenty, could upend the endorsement in 2018 when he lost to endorsed gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson. The last time the endorsement didn’t hold up for the office was 1994 when Arne Carlson, a sitting Republican governor, was bypassed for endorsement in favor of social conservative Allen Quist . Carlson won in a primary and had a landslide reelection victory in November. 

In her first interview after making her primary bid official, Lisa Demuth spoke with our Clay Masters about her decision to press on. They covered the leadup to it, with Demuth reiterating that she felt empowered to go forward after the GOP released candidates from their abide-by-endorsement pledges. One of the more interesting exchanges between Clay and Demuth was regarding President Donald Trump. He asked what Demuth might do to land the president’s endorsement. She said, “I don’t know if anyone has an insight of how you do that, but I am open to it.” Then, Clay asked if there is anything she disagrees with Trump on. She turned the question into praising Trump on border policies and the way he “has fought for peace nationwide.” Pressed again, she didn’t offer any areas where they diverge. Republicans nationally have learned that Trump keeps score of ill words toward him so Demuth appears to be playing it quite safe. In remarks Monday, Qualls was more effusive about trying to land Trump’s backing. Watch or listen to the interview here.

The attention to the GOP convention pause in the name of Derek Chauvin isn’t abating. Attorneys for George Floyd’s family issued a scathing statement yesterday about the Republican Party holding a moment of silent reflection for the Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing Floyd. “The audacity of the Minnesota Republican Party to honor an individual who has both been convicted by a jury of his peers for the murder of a fellow human being, while at the same time violated a professional oath to protect and serve his community, is disgusting,” the statement read. Republican candidates, including Kendall Qualls and Lisa Demuth, have sought distance from the action without saying whether they’d rule out a pardon for Chauvin if they’re elected and sit on the Board of Pardons next year. The state GOP has called it a “spontaneous” moment from the convention floor that shouldn’t be described as an official party policy position. Convention antics and speeches can be nightmares for parties. Democrats had a candidate using the f-word in President Donald Trump’s direction from the stage at their Rochester convention, and delegates for both parties often say cringy things from the floor. 

Side note: The Minnesota Reformer has posted the full 99-second exchange over this from the convention floor, including a voice vote when Chair Danny Nadeau deferred the question to the delegates. Not many actually took part from the sounds of it, but the motion for the moment of reflection in Chauvin’s honor passed. And a side note to the side note: The person who pushed for the Chauvin recognition identified himself as “Rocco” from Senate District 65. Campaign filings yesterday included a “ Rocco (No Last Name)” as a Republican state Senate candidate in the same district. The St. Paul district is heavily DFL so there is little chance Rocco will win, but it does push this into the lap of the GOP state Senate caucus now, too.

Among the late filers was Republican Rep. Elliott Engen, who is seeking to return to a House seat after abandoning a run for state auditor. Engen is due in court later this month on charges related to a driving while impaired stop in April. He was in a car with another lawmaker, state Rep. Walter Hudson. The two had been spotted at a bar at a time when legislative committees were in session and then consumed more alcohol after the House completed a lengthy floor session. They were stopped in White Bear Lake, with officers confiscating the permitted firearm that Hudson had with him. An ethics case against the pair fizzled. There is another Republican, Sebastian Stoss, seeking the Republican nomination in the north-suburban district so Engen is not assured a November ballot spot. DFLers are lined up behind Jim DeMay in a race they see as a flip opportunity.

U.S. Senate candidates on August ballot: 11 Republicans, six DFLers

Governor tickets on ballot: Seven Republicans, seven DFLers

Congressional primaries: Republicans in districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8; DFLers in districts 2, 4, 5, 7, 8

Legislators running unopposed: Three in Senate (all DFL);  15 in House (all DFL)

Legislative rematches: 24 (Seven for Senate; 17 for House)

Ex-lawmakers seeking comebacks: Five (Republicans Jeremy Munson, Pam Myhra, Nels Pierson; DFLers Zach Dorholt, Hunter Cantrell)

Third party candidates: One (Calvin Larson Jr. for state Senate); more could be added as signatures verified.

*Subject to withdrawn candidates or late adds through localized filing for office.

Minnesota disability service provider organizations say thousands of legitimate providers were disenrolled from 14 high-risk Medicaid programs this week. Earlier this year, the Trump administration froze $243 million in Medicaid funding after saying Minnesota had not adequately addressed fraud in certain programs. The state adopted a corrective action plan, which included a requirement that the state revalidate more than 5,000 providers of high-risk Medicaid programs by May 31. As Ellie Roth reports , only about 1,000 providers were approved and the majority remained pending as of May 27, the last day the state updated the data before the deadline. Providers and disability advocates worry many providers were disenrolled simply because the agency ran out of time. “They disenrolled thousands of providers simply because they didn’t get the job done,” said Josh Berg, service director for provider Accessible Space Inc. In a termination letter sent to Accessible Space, the state cited information gathered during a site visit as cause for disenrollment, but Berg said that visit never occurred. Human Services said they would not provide comment to MPR News until the data is finalized.