Ron Paul backers to dominate Minn.'s RNC delegation

Ron Paul
Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, meets with reporters after a campaign stop at Bethel University Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012, in Arden Hills, Minn.
AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Ron Paul supporters will dominate Minnesota's delegation to the Republican National Convention this summer.

Paul's Minnesota campaign chair Marianne Stebbins said Paul won 20 of the 24 national delegates elected at Republican district conventions. Stebbins said she expects Paul will have a strong showing at the Republican state convention next month where 13 more national delegates will be elected.

She said the Paul movement has been steadily gaining strength in Minnesota since the 2008 election, and his supporters want to shake up the status quo.

"Because the establishment has gotten us, without fail, every single year, bigger and more government," she said. "The establishment has been taking away our individual liberties without fail every single year, and so people are fed up at this point."

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Stebbins also said Paul supporters will have their voice heard in other ways at the convention.

"Many people who are involved in the party this year are going to want to see resolutions that are stronger relating to personal liberty, relating to the economic issues," Stebbins said.

The state republican convention will also endorse a candidate to run against DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Paul has endorsed state Rep. Kurt Bills in that contest over Republicans Peter Hegseth and Dan Severson.

Stebbins said she expects Bills to do well at the convention. She also said Paul delegates will likely propose a number of resolutions, such as measures to abolish the Department of Education, and rein-in U.S. foreign policy.