Royce White and Joe Fraser, shown at the Minnesota Republican State Convention in St. Paul on May 18, 2024, debated for the first time Thursday evening. (Glen Stubbe)

Minnesota Republicans Royce White and Joe Fraser went head-to-head Thursday evening on the issues, the state’s endorsement process and who’s a stronger supporter of former president Donald Trump in their first debate.

Both candidates are running in the August primary to be the nominee to take on Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in November. The debate was hosted by the Minnesota Federation of Republican Women.

White, a former NBA player and InfoWars darling, won the Republican Party’s endorsement in May on the first ballot over Fraser, a businessman and former naval intelligence officer. Fraser said low turnout at the Republican convention and questions about White’s past ultimately enticed him to move on to the primary.

White said he initially didn’t want to participate in the debate because Fraser reversed a pledge to abide by the endorsement, but said: “I’m such a competitor, I can’t help myself.”

Fraser defended his decision to move on to August, saying White also ran in a Republican primary for Congress two years ago and “a minority shouldn’t dictate what the majority of the party does.”

After he was endorsed for the Senate, campaign finance reports showed White used campaign funds on shopping, strip clubs and hotels during and after his run for Congress. He’s facing an FEC complaint for that spending, and recently claimed to have reimbursed a number of questionable expenditures on campaign finance reports.

White is also the subject of multiple pending civil court proceedings, including failure to pay child support. Asked how he would handle those controversies in his campaign, White said “we have an anti-American family courts system” and he had to make payments based off his NBA salary even after he left professional basketball.

The two candidates outlined different focuses for their campaigns, with Fraser citing the economy, jobs, the national debt and security as his top issues. White said he’s campaigning for the Senate “to close the border, pay back the debt and stop getting involved in forever wars.”

“We have to fight the same way Donald Trump told us to when he almost took a bullet this last week,” White said. “That’s what my campaign is about, it’s about speaking the truth.”

Both candidates said they support Trump, with White describing himself as “ultra MAGA.” Fraser said White voted for Biden in the past and has criticized Trump. In response, White said he didn’t vote for Biden, he wrote in former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Republicans are struggling to raise the money needed to challenge Klobuchar, a four-term senator who enjoys broad support in the state and has a huge fundraising advantage. White reported raising nearly $75,000 between April and the end of June, with roughly $47,636 in the bank to spend. Fraser’s campaign reported raising $17,445 during the same time period with $17,406 on hand.

White said he would go “door-to-door” to court Black and Hispanic voters in the Twin Cities in order to beat Klobuchar in November. Fraser said Republicans need to win the suburbs in order to win statewide.

“I appeal to not just the Republican Party but across lines, and that’s what we need to win,” Fraser said.

White said “I love a good fight” and he’s going to take his ideas into “Minneapolis and St. Paul to win this election and flip this state red.”

Early voting is underway in the Aug. 13 primary.