When it comes to deciding a GOP-endorsed candidate for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, the political face-off will have to be held off.

District GOP will have to wait until an August primary to determine who will challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Walz in November. The delay for endorsement comes after an April 21 GOP convention where delegates failed to decide on a candidate.

“This is about the right person that can defeat Tim Walz in November,” said Sen. Mike Parry, R-Waseca, who competes with former three-term Rep. Allen Quist for the GOP endorsement.

Neither Parry nor Quist could attain the needed 60 percent of delegates during the convention. Talk of a follow-up convention was in the works, but scheduling conflicts pushed the proposed date past its original target of two to three weeks from the first convention.

“I voted for that motion,” Quist said of the follow-up, adding that he did everything he could to make it a possibility. “Mike Parry did not.”

The 14 hours and 23 rounds of balloting ended just before 2 a.m. April 22. Quist had 137 votes on the last ballot to 126 for Parry with 19 blank ballots.

Parry led in the early rounds of voting before Quist pulled ahead for a couple rounds. The lead swung back to Parry, then to Quist, who still had the lead when the convention adjourned.

Quist said he had no choice now but to prepare for August’s primary election. Though it’s still possible a follow-up convention could happen, the chances are small.

“It probably would end up deadlocked again,” he said. “I can’t wait until June 2 to begin to gear up for a primary.”

As the candidates set their sights on the primary, Quist said he has not yet been able to look into financial backing.

“I haven’t explored that yet,” he said. “That’s the sort of thing you work on after the endorsement has passed. Really, I have to set my sights on the primary.”

Parry said contributions for his campaign are coming in.

“We have hundreds of donors already,” he said. “They see a person that can win.” Parry added his grassroots campaign is growing and he plans to hit the streets to garner support once the Legislative session is over.

Despite the continued competition between Quist and Parry, both candidates have a single focus in mind: to unseat Tim Walz.

“Our national debt has almost doubled since Tim Walz was elected to Congress,” Quist said in a Monday release announcing his intention to file for the primary. “Since Mr. Walz has been unwilling to tackle the debt crisis, it is time for him to step aside and make way for someone who will get our nation back on track.”

A release on the same day from Parry echoed these concerns.

“My campaign from day one has always been about Tim Walz,” Parry said. “For far too long, Congressman Walz has said one thing in southern Minnesota and voted another way in Washington.” He said that he plans to explain to voters how Walz’s current term has affected their pocketbooks.

 

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.