Republican quits Minnesota governor race, criticizing ICE surge

Jan 26 (Reuters) - Lawyer Chris Madel on Monday dropped out of the Republican race to be Minnesota's governor, denouncing what he said was a campaign of retribution against the state by federal authorities, after officers killed two U.S. citizens during clashes over tougher immigration enforcement.

The move was a sign of rising tension in President Donald Trump's Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections over the immigration crackdown, which has led to repeated public clashes and the fatal Minnesota shootings of Renee Good on January 7 and Alex Pretti on Saturday. Both were 37.

"I cannot support the national Republican stated retribution on the citizens of our state nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so," Madel said in a video posted on X. "The national Republicans have made it nearly impossible for a Republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota."

Republican Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, state Representative Kristin Robbins and former state Senator Scott Jensen are among more than 10 candidates remaining in the August 11 primary to be the party's gubernatorial candidate.

Madel, who successfully defended a Minnesota state trooper in the fatal shooting of a Black motorist, said the scale of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's surge in Minneapolis, nicknamed Operation Metro Surge, could not be justified.

Madel said he supported ICE's goals of deporting "the worst of the worst from our state," but the operation "has expanded far beyond its stated focus on true public safety threats."

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Madel had consistently finished in the top three in straw polls of party activists for the primary.

The ultimate Republican candidate is likely to face Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who last week entered the race and is considered the favorite by nonpartisan analysts.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz this month dropped a reelection bid amid a welfare fraud scandal. Republicans last won the state's governorship in 2006.

Trump has been a fierce critic of Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate in the 2024 election, but on Monday said that he was "on a similar wavelength" with the Minnesota governor, who has called for ICE to pull back from his state.

Republicans' current majority in Congress is also on the line in November, with the U.S. House of Representatives seen as highly competitive while Republicans are seen as having a better chance of retaining their Senate edge.