Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican delegates are set to gather this weekend at their state party conventions, where they’ll decide which candidates to back in the upcoming midterm election.

Republicans are holding their convention starting Friday at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, where more than 2,000 delegates will pick their favorites for governor, U.S. Senate, and other statewide offices from a wide field of candidates.

DFLers, meanwhile, will gather in Rochester for a convention where a lot less is up in the air — only one candidate each is seeking the party’s endorsement for the two top offices. Roughly 1,200 delegates will take part in the DFL endorsement process at Mayo Civic Center.

The candidates who get backing at the convention gain access to state party resources, which can give them an edge in the August primary election.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is the DFL’s presumptive nominee for governor, and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is expected to receive the DFL endorsement to succeed outgoing U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, also of the DFL.Klobuchar is the only major candidate running for the party’s nomination for governor after DFL Gov. Tim Walz dropped his bid for a third term in January over mounting criticism for his record handling fraud in state government-funded programs.

Klobuchar, seen as a moderate, has a long record of success in statewide elections, though the DFL has become an increasingly progressive party in recent years. While she is virtually guaranteed to win the endorsement, the convention will serve as a test of her ability to unify the party, said Steven Schier, a professor emeritus of political science at Carleton College in Northfield.

“She’s been in office 20 years now, and therefore she is of a previous Democratic generation,” he said. “The question in Rochester is, how will the younger, more progressive wing of the party react to her and work for her?”

DFL’s progressive wing

The growing influence of the DFL’s progressive wing is visible in the party’s most competitive primary, the U.S. Senate race between Flanagan and U.S. Rep. Angie Craig,

On Wednesday, Craig announced she’d skip the convention and move forward to the primary without her own party’s backing. Smith is leaving office at the end of the year, leaving the seat up for grabs. Smith has endorsed Flanagan.

Craig, a fourth-term congresswoman who has succeeded in the competitive Second Congressional District by appealing to moderate voters, has outraised Flanagan and had a strong start to her senate race in 2025.

But party activists, progressives and many other top DFL figures have coalesced around Flanagan, whose campaign has gained momentum in the wake of the Trump administration’s winter immigration crackdown. Flanagan has targeted Craig for her vote in support of the Laken Riley Act, which expanded federal immigration enforcement powers.

Unlike the GOP endorsement, the DFL endorsement isn’t the same virtual guarantee of a primary win. In 2018, for instance, Walz went on to the primary after narrowly losing the endorsement contest to then Rep. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, who is now the state Senate majority leader.

Flanagan’s campaign argues this year’s will be different because Craig has skipped the convention altogether. Craig said Wednesday she didn’t believe the convention system represents the priorities of average Minnesota voters.

“I’m a proud DFLer. Every letter has meaning to me … But the DFL endorsement process just doesn’t reflect the full scope of the party that we are. And the purple state that we have become,” Craig said after filing paperwork to run, later adding: “Most Minnesotans can’t choose a convention over a closing shift.”

Besides governor and U.S. Senate, delegates will also choose candidates for attorney general, secretary of state and state auditor. Secretary of State Steve Simon is seeking a fourth term while Attorney General Keith Ellison is seeking a third term. Both are DFLers.

Multiple GOP candidates

For Republicans, the endorsement usually means winning the primary. The last time an unendorsed candidate won the GOP primary was 1994, when Arne Carlson moved forward without the GOP nod and defeated Allen Quist.

Multiple candidates are vying for the GOP endorsement for the state’s top offices. Republicans running for governor include House Speaker Lisa Demuth, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell; 2022 Republican endorsement contender Kendall Qualls, a former congressional candidate; and businessman Patrick Knight.

Several candidates are seeking the GOP nomination in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race this year. They include ex-Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze, former NFL sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya and former NBA basketball player Royce White.

Demuth has a fundraising edge over her competitors in the contest for governor and had led in early straw polls when the field was more crowded. At precinct caucuses in February, Demuth came in first place with 32%, with Qualls at 26% and Lindell at 17%.

Though each of the top polling candidates from the earlier conventions has their own advantage, said Preya Samsundar, a Minnesota Republican campaign strategist. Where Demuth might have a track record of governing in the Legislature and strong campaigning, Qualls enjoys a stronger connection with the grassroots, she said.

Republicans hope to break a 20-year losing streak in statewide races. No Republican candidate has won a statewide election in Minnesota since Gov. Tim Pawlenty won a second term in 2006.

Start of campaigns

Conventions help get candidates moving on their campaigns, though the endorsement process hasn’t served the Minnesota GOP well in recent years, Samsundar said.

“Primarily, it forces you to run a campaign and show viability amongst your core supporters,” she said. “But on the other hand, we’ve seen delegates choose candidates that are just not viable.”

In 2024, Republican delegates surprised many in Minnesota politics by selecting White, a self-described “MAGA extremist” known for his connections to the fringe right and combative online persona, to face Klobuchar.

This year, Republicans at the convention will be faced with whether to choose combative anti-establishment candidates or more conventional candidates.

“Will they tolerate nominating a legislative leader? In the past, they haven’t,” Schier said of Demuth, noting her work on budget deals with DFLers in the Legislature over the past two years. “They really object to anybody who’s successful in government.”

Delegates to the state conventions don’t represent the broader electorate, and their candidate selections can often represent the preference of the party base. Conservative activists tend to dominate the endorsement process at the GOP convention and DFL endorsements are often determined by the party’s progressive base.

“Its main function is to validate the activists in the party, and they have disproportionate influence in the system based on how it is structured,” Schier said of conventions.

The delegate selection process starts at the precinct caucuses in February. Local community members gather to choose delegates who will endorse candidates later on in the year. Precinct caucuses are also an opportunity for party members to discuss and introduce policy proposals to the party platform at the grassroots level.