Republicans endorsed longtime politician Tad Jude in a convention this weekend, hoping he wins the suburban Third Congressional District for Republicans for the first time since 2016.
Republicans held the seat for almost 60 years until Rep. Dean Phillips was elected in 2018. Phillips announced last year he would not seek re-election as he ran a long-shot campaign for president. State Sen. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, is the sole Democrat in the race to replace Phillips.
"I am humbled and honored to have earned your endorsement and trust!!" Jude wrote in a post on X, writing that he hoped to move the district back to the Republican column.
Jude beat out Plymouth businessman Jamie Page in the last of three rounds of voting, with 242 voters. Quentin Wittrock, the sole candidate who did not support Donald Trump's re-election, was eliminated in the second round of voting, after former mixed martial arts fighter Brad Kohler. None of the three other Republicans who ran said they would continue their campaigns if they did not win the endorsement.
In the early stages of the campaign, Jude said he was better known and more experienced than the other Republicans in the race, which he hoped would put him in a stronger position to win the increasingly Democratic district.
Jude was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1972 at age 20 and served a decade in the Legislature.
He was elected district court judge in 2010 and served a decade on the court. In 2022, Jude unsuccessfully ran for Hennepin County Attorney.
Though Jude has been involved in Republican politics for decades, he has emphasized his experience in nonpartisan positions as a county commissioner and judge and his local work advocating for rail trails and against landfills.
Though the suburban district — the wealthiest in Minnesota — was a Republican stronghold for decades, it has become emblematic of Democrats' growing strength in the suburbs, especially since Trump's election. In 2022, Phillips won the district with almost 60% of the vote.
During his campaign, Wittrock reiterated that Trump did not win the Third District in 2016 or 2020. Phillips beat former Rep. Erik Paulsen in 2018, and won re-election twice in the suburban district before launching his campaign for president.
