Minnesota Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Royce White surprised many when he won his party’s endorsement at the May convention. Now that he’s the official GOP nominee after winning this month’s primary, he’s got a steep climb ahead.
The 2024 U.S. Senate race in Minnesota pits three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar against White, a basketball player turned right-wing online media personality who has described himself as a “MAGA extremist” and is an associate of former President Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon.
Despite his combative online style, controversial statements and unconventional background, Minnesota’s Republican Party has stood by White. Though leadership described him as an “unusual candidate.” Nevertheless, some political observers and moderate Republicans wonder whether he’ll be able to unify the party.
White faces a long-time Senator with wide recognition who has handily defeated all of her Republican challengers over the years. And no GOP candidate has won statewide office in Minnesota since 2006. Dan Hofrenning, professor of political science at St. Olaf College, called prospects for a Republican defeating Klobuchar “bleak.”
“Probably the single most, or the single clearest indicator that she has a safe seat is that she didn’t attract a range of what we might call ‘quality candidates,’ ” he said. “If she were more vulnerable, there’d be a lot of people stepping up, like state legislators … or other bigger names in the Republican Party.”
Cash, name recognition
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar speaks in Duluth as DFL delegates and party leaders gather the weekend of May 31 to June 2, 2024, for their state convention. (Mark Wasson / Forum News Service)
White has significantly less cash and political clout than Klobuchar, who has served in the U.S. Senate since being elected in 2006 and got national attention for her 2020 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
As of just before the Aug. 13 primary, Klobuchar had more than $6 million for her campaign, compared to White’s $53,000, according to candidate reports to the Federal Election Commission.
White could raise more in the months before the general election, though past candidates who have run against Klobuchar have also been significantly outgunned money-wise. Republican Jim Newberger raised about a quarter of a million dollars in his 2018 bid for senate.
White does have some name recognition in Minnesota from his basketball career. In 2009 he led Hopkins High School to a state championship and was named Minnesota Mr. Basketball. He then played for Iowa State before being drafted by the Houston Rockets in 2012.
White was in the NBA for six years but never played a game, though came to be known for his mental health advocacy in professional basketball and shared his struggles with anxiety. Later he attracted national media attention for his involvement with Black Lives Matter protests in Minneapolis in 2020. But soon after, he became a right-wing figure with ties to Bannon and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
White has said he thinks his anti-establishment credentials play to his advantage, as Klobuchar has not faced a “brash” candidate such as him before. He also hopes a strategy of reaching out to heavily Democratic communities of color in the Twin Cities metropolitan area will help his campaign as well. White is the first Black major party nominee for Senate in Minnesota history.
“I need the conservatives in this state to get ready to come down into the cities and explain to voters, voters who may have not voted before, voters who may be independent or moderate, voters who may have voted Democrat,” White said in a Primary Election night interview. “We need to go explain to them what the value is of the Republican platform. We haven’t been in those communities.”
Divided GOP
It isn’t just a well-entrenched incumbent that will pose a challenge for White. He also has to convince other Republicans to support him.
Around three-fifths of GOP primary voters supported other candidates, and many moderate Republicans have expressed reservations about White’s self-described extremism, controversies, associations with the conspiracy right and combative online style.
In the Aug. 13 primary, White won 39% of the vote, and establishment pick Joe Fraser, who had endorsements from former Republican Sens. Norm Coleman and Rudy Boschwitz, and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, received about 29% of the vote. The rest of the vote was split between several other candidates.
White says he hopes to unite Minnesota Republicans behind him and end what he calls a “civil war” in the party. But so far, many moderate Republican voices continue to reject him as a candidate.
“Trump, (JD) Vance, and now Royce White will make the political environment difficult for traditional Republicans in Minnesota,” said former Minnesota Republican Party deputy chair Michael Brodkorb in a post to X. Just a day before the primary, Brodkorb had endorsed the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz Democratic presidential ticket.
Despite misgivings among some Republicans, the state party itself has stood by White even as he came under fire for several controversies, like alleged misuse of funds for his 2022 congressional campaign — which included $1,200 spent at a Miami strip club. A complaint against his campaign alleged he spent more than $150,000 on personal expenses, including luxury goods, though White has claimed he has reimbursed the expenses.
In a May interview with KSTP’s Tom Hauser, Minnesota Republican Party Chairman David Hann admitted White was an “unusual candidate” but said the party wouldn’t try to claw back its endorsement. In July, Hann later appeared with White in a social media post seeking campaign volunteers.
White has also faced criticism for back child support payments, which he says were unfairly high because a judge set his payments based on his NBA salary. He’s also been accused of antisemitism for his remarks about banks being controlled by “Jewish elites” and was opposed by the Republican Jewish Coalition.
White has denied allegations of antisemitism and said he has “many people in my life who are Jewish, who love me and support me and support the things I say about cultural issues.”
Klobuchar touring MN counties
Klobuchar and White met during a panel discussion at Minnesota Farmfest in early August — an event considered a crucial early stop in a Minnesota election. Besides that brief greeting between the candidates at the panel, only one has acknowledged the other in public communication.
White routinely criticizes Klobuchar in social media posts and media appearances. Klobuchar and her campaign, meanwhile, have not mentioned her Republican challenger in any messaging since White won the GOP endorsement in May.
Klobuchar has been touring Minnesota intending to visit all 87 counties, as she has done in past years, and as of mid-August had been to more than 60, according to campaign spokesperson Ben Hill. Those stops have included meetings with small business owners, farmers and local law enforcement.
“Senator Klobuchar is focused on her job in the Senate and working with Minnesotans across the state to deliver results,” said Hill when asked about the campaign, mirroring a similar statement issued following White’s May endorsement by the GOP.
Hill touted the senator’s bipartisan track record and endorsements from the Minnesota Professional Fire Fighters and the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association. He also pointed out her successful push for legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies in order to lower drug prices.
No official debate has been scheduled between the candidates so far.
The last time Klobuchar ran, she debated her Republican opponent at the Minnesota State Fair and in a televised debate on KSTP. Neither Klobuchar nor White’s campaign have indicated if any plan is in the works for a similar event this year.
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