Minnesota’s Republican Party elected a new leader this weekend, ousting current chair David Hann, and replacing him with Wayzata city councilman and longtime party activist Alex Plechash. Alex Plechash. (Courtesy of the City of Wayzata) The move was celebrated by anti-establishment grassroots party activists who opposed Hann, though they stopped short of embracing Plechash, who was not their No. 1 pick for the role. When he takes over the party in January 2025, Plechash will be challenged by the need to please a strong right-wing base while convincing the donor class he can get results. “That term grassroots has become a pejorative. It shouldn’t be, because it really applies to the culture, the ethos of the Republican Party,” Plechasch said in an interview. “It’s a tall order, I understand. But if we can somehow get the message out to all sides — if you want to call it sides — that we’re all pulling together, believe in my heart that we will come together.” The primary grassroots organizing group that has been at odds with Minnesota GOP‘s establishment for years Action 4 Liberty, took credit for Hann’s ouster Saturday. Some observers say that could spook major donors who want to invest in candidates who can win statewide elections. The last time a Republican candidate won statewide office in Minnesota was in 2006. “There’s a large block of Republicans out there, particularly in Minnesota, who do not identify with the ‘Liberty-MAGA’ wing of the party,” said Michael Brodkorb, a former GOP deputy chair. “And I think it’s a risk for the incoming chair to embrace that association.” Priorities Plechash said his main priorities will be to build major donor fundraising as the party sets its sights on the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections in 2026. Minnesota’s Republican Party had financial issues for more than a decade until recent years when Hann pulled the party out of debt — something the outgoing chair touted in a statement after he lost reelection. “When I was elected in a special election in October of 2021, the Party was deep in debt, our members were demoralized, and our donors and allies were frustrated by the dysfunction of the Party,” said Hann. “I cannot emphasize enough what it took to bring us to that place and what an honor it was to lead the charge in healing our Party’s finances.” Plechash says the GOP’s statewide losing streak could be reversed by concentrating on areas of the state the GOP has not focused on, such as deeply blue cities. The strategy he described resembles one advocated by 2024 U.S. Republican Senate candidate Royce White, an anti-establishment figure whose endorsement and nomination were seen as a surprise by many political observers. Plechash was among White’s backers at the May endorsement convention. Plechash has previously served as the party’s representative on the Republican National Committee, a position he served in since 2021 before losing the seat to AK Kamara this year. He’s a Marine veteran who flew fighter jets from the 1970s to the early 90s. In his private sector career, he’s worked for Exxon, in investment banking and as a vice president at an executive search firm. He was first elected to the Wayzata City Council in 2016 and was elected to a third term this November. He’s been involved with the GOP since 2004. Activist group plays role in Hann’s ouster Activists with the anti-party establishment activist group Action 4 Liberty claimed victory in Plechash’s election as party chair, though mainly because he will replace Hann, who they call a “RINO” — a Republican In Name Only. They stopped short of fully embracing the newly elected chair, noting he had “backstabbed” a group of Otter Tail County Republican delegates who the party had excluded from the 2022 convention for backing a non-endorsed candidate for state Senate. Hann, a former state senator, had served as party chair since a special election in October 2021 following the resignation of former Chair Jennifer Carnahan amid a toxic workplace scandal and allegations of sex trafficking against a donor with whom she had close ties. MN GOP Deputy Chair Donna Bergstrom won reelection and said delegates may have turned on Hann after he endorsed her opponent Kip Christianson in that contest. “When he decided not to support me that really soured a lot of our delegates,” she said. DFL response This weekend, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin seized on Hann’s ouster as an opportunity to paint the Minnesota GOP as dysfunctional and extreme. “Control of Minnesota’s entire state government is on the ballot in 2026,” he said in a statement. “Today’s chaos shows that if Minnesota Republicans regain power, they will be beholden to the same far-right fringe that now dominates the national Republican Party.” State Rep. Walter Hudson, R-Albertville, the party’s outreach and engagement director, said that wasn’t surprising. “We can bet with confidence that the DFL had their press release ready to go and simply inserted the name of whoever prevailed as MNGOP chair,” he said. 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