Former NBA player Royce White won the Republican Senate primary to face Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota, according to a projection from Decision Desk HQ.
White,supported by the state Republican Party,emerged from a crowded field of candidates vying to take on the Democratic incumbent, including executive Joe Fraser.
White supposedly has allies at former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and entered Tuesday’s contest as the top fundraiser, according to FEC filings. Fraser was supported by former Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) and former Republican Senators Rudy Boschwitz and Norm Coleman, as reported by MPR News. The Senate Republicans’ campaign arm has not yet become involved in the dispute.
On the other side of the aisle, Klobuchar was expected to defeat a handful of distant challengers to win her party’s nomination, and White now faces an uphill climb to unseat her as she seeks her fourth term in the upper house.
A Decision Desk headquarters prediction testing Klobuchar over Fraser put her with a 95 percent chance of winning her seat in the head-to-head matchup, and Cook Political Reportevaluatea solid Democratic seat.
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