Former Minnesota GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan is running for mayor of Nisswa

Former Minnesota GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan is running for mayor of Nisswa, Minn., where she’s owned a boutique downtown for a decade and her family has deep roots.

In an interview, Carnahan said she didn’t plan on announcing her mayoral bid until after Labor Day. But news of her candidacy broke on social media days after she filed for office Tuesday, the filing deadline, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office.

She will face incumbent John Ryan, who has served on the Nisswa City Council for eight years and ran uncontested in 2022. He said he’s not party-affiliated and described himself as an independent.

“I did speak with her,” Ryan said. “I welcomed her to the race and the people of Nisswa can decide where they want to go.”

Carnahan has lived in Nisswa, a lakes community of 2,000, since 2022. She vacationed there throughout childhood and it’s where her parents first met and still call home. She relocated there after years of legal troubles and the death of her husband, U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, who represented Minnesota’s First Congressional District.

“I was scared to live by myself after that, and I didn’t want to be alone,” she said by phone Friday while out of town on business.

“My parents have always been my biggest supporters,” she said. “I just wanted to go be near them. And because my business is up there, it just made sense to relocate. And I plan to stay there forever. The lakes area has always been my go-to happy place, comfort zone, safe space.”

The 47-year-old business owner and politician looks to start a new chapter in Nisswa, where she owns women’s boutique Primrose Park. She said she wants to see Nisswa “stay vibrant, healthy and strong for generations to come,” which is why she said she decided to run for mayor.

“I feel like I have a lot of good skill sets and experience in life, whether it was working as a marketing leader for all these Fortune 500 companies, to becoming an entrepreneur and having a business over 10 years to, you know, being the former chair of the GOP party.”

The Minnesota GOP forced Carnahan out as chair in 2021 amid a scandal and allegations that she had created a toxic workplace environment. She had close ties with GOP donor Anton “Tony” Lazzaro, who was convicted in federal court of sex trafficking minors and sentenced last August to 21 years in prison.

Carnahan initially resisted calls to resign, saying the allegations were part of a “coup” by her detractors. She said she had no knowledge of the sexual harassment accusations.

When Hagedorn died after a long battle with kidney cancer in February 2022, she ran for his congressional seat but finished third in a special GOP primary.

“I basically took care of him by myself while he was actively dying. And it was traumatic,” she said. “It was nothing I ever wish on anyone in the world.”

Some of Hagedorn’s family members sued Carnahan over money they put toward the late congressman’s medical expenses. A judge ordered her to reimburse the family for more than $20,000.

Her legal woes didn’t end there. She sued the Republican Party of Minnesota alleging that her former colleagues had disparaged her in violation of a separation agreement and damaged her ability to get another job. The Minnesota GOP countersued, alleging Carnahan had “grossly mismanaged” the party and caused substantial damage. Carnahan and the state GOP agreed to drop the lawsuits in November.

Her parents, John and Cindy Carnahan, whose family owned lake property for decades, bought a cabin in 1987 and moved to Nisswa in 2016. Not long after they got married, they adopted Jennifer, who was born in South Korea. She came to Minnesota in 1977 and attended school in Maple Grove.

Cindy Carnahan said her daughter didn’t get a fair shake in the press and was treated unfairly by the GOP Party.

“She’s tired of all that stuff following her,” she said, adding that she wished the media would leave her daughter alone.

Carnahan surprised her parents by throwing her hat in the mayoral race. “She’s a really strong woman, a lot stronger than I would be in her place,” Cindy Carnahan said. “I don’t want to see her hurt, of course, I’m her mom. But I’m also proud of her for wanting to do this.”

Friends and fellow business owners were a bit surprised by Carnahan’s candidacy as well, but they support her.

“With her level of determination and positive attitude, I think she has a lot to offer to the Nisswa community,” said Jon Melberg, who co-owns an IT business in Nisswa and met Carnahan a year ago at the gym. “She’s got roots in the area, and I think that helps keep her grounded long-term.”