State Republicans pick Alex Plechash as new party chair

Wayzata City Council member Alex Plechash is the new chairman of the state GOP, edging out incumbent David Hann for the Minnesota Republican Party’s top post.

Plechash’s selection by a Dec. 14 vote of the state central committee likely marks the end of Hann’s tenure as GOP chairman. First elected in 2021, Hann previously told the Minnesota Star Tribune this run for the position would probably be his last.

Plechash, a former RNC national committeeman, said in an interview Sunday that he’s hoping to put together a team that’s “laser focused” on winning on 2026, when Minnesotans will elect a new governor. He said he wants to bring all organizations affiliated with the Republican Party “into the tent.”

Under Hann’s leadership, Republicans broke Democrats’ trifecta at the state Capitol this year. Hann also oversaw a period of financial recovery for a party previously saddled with six-figure debt, with a blitz of donations replenishing party coffers after President-elect Donald Trump headlined the GOP’s annual fundraising dinner. He didn’t immediately return requests for comment Sunday morning.

Plechash said fundraising is a top priority, adding he intends to reach out to previous donors who recently stopped contributing to the party, along with those who haven’t given to the GOP but share its values.

“In both cases, I would need to present a story that shows that we will be successful, because people with that kind of money essentially are investors, and they want to see a return on their investment,” he said, declining to comment on the specifics of the fundraising pitch.

The DFL decried Plechash’s victory in a statement released Saturday night. “The Minnesota GOP has been completely captured by the most extreme, fringe activists in Minnesota politics,” DFL Chairman Ken Martin wrote, blaming Hann’s loss on “far-right activists.”

Deputy Chair Donna Bergstrom won re-election over Kip Christianson. Bergstrom is a former candidate for lieutenant governor and Hann’s current deputy chair. Hann backed her opponent, Christianson, who most recently served as Minnesota’s deputy state director for Trump’s re-election campaign.

That frustrated some Republicans ahead of the vote. Hann previously said supporting Christianson would elevate a younger generation of Republicans to leadership roles — something he said the party should support.

Bergstrom said in an interview Sunday that she believes Hann’s decision to back her opponent contributed to his loss.

“When it gave the impression that that I was not being respected, and that there was disloyalty ... I believe that really turned a lot of people away,” Bergstrom said, adding that issues related to staffing and money also may have imperiled Hann’s reelection.

Bergstrom, who said her re-election showed party activists were “looking for stability,” said she’s focused on strengthening the party’s ground game ahead of 2026.

She said she looks forward to working with Plechash, whom she already worked with when he served as RNC national committeeman. And she added she hopes to attract people to the GOP who feel “disenfranchised” by Democrats, including young men, Latino, Black and American Indian voters.

“I think, as we’ve seen with this last election, people are ... finding that the Republicans are really the ones that are standing up for us,” she said.

Other contenders for party chair were Army veteran Bret Bussman and former gubernatorial candidate Mike Murphy.

Plechash is a former Marine who has worked as a general manager for Exxon, a vice president for investment banking companies and an executive recruiter for a search firm, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He’s been involved in Minnesota politics since 2004, according to his campaign website, and represented the state at the Republican National Convention in 2008 and 2016.

Plechash also founded a group for Republican veterans in Minnesota and has served on the Wayzata City Council since 2017.

Sydney Kashiwagi contributed to this report.