A veteran "pro-life," "pro-family" state representative would seem like a shoo-in for a run for Minnesota Senate, and Mark Olson of Big Lake got the Republican Party’s endorsement for the race in District 16 on Aug. 7. But ever since, Minnesota Republicans have been fuming — first in silence and now more vocally — about his endorsement: Olson was convicted of domestic assault last year for an altercation with his wife in 2006.

Olson previously tried to retain his House seat, but lost the endorsement to Republican former Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer. When Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointed Sen. Betsy Wergin to the Public Utilities Commission, it left an opening in Senate District 16 — an opening Olson decided to take. SD16 Republicans endorsed Olson over Alison Krueger, who decided to run for the seat because of Olson’s conviction. District 16 lies halfway between Minneapolis and St. Cloud.

Initially the Republican Party of Minnesota said the endorsement decision was up to residents of the district. Minnesota Republican Party Communications Director Gina Countryman told the Star Tribune the next day, "We are a party of local control, and the Senate District 16 Republicans have endorsed Mark Olson, and we respect that decision."

But that respect didn’t last long. The paper wrote a scathing editorial about the endorsement, and within hours Minnesota Republicans from the local to the federal level were denouncing it.

The Star Tribune said the endorsement would jeopardize another tight race. "Whatever their reasons, the GOP delegates of District 16 have put their state party — and particularly the Norm Coleman reelection campaign — in an awkward spot," wrote the editorial board. "How can Republicans fault DFL Senate candidate Al Franken for writing jokes they deem antifemale when they have put their official arms around a candidate convicted of assaulting his wife?"

Hours earlier, the GOP’s top attack blogger broke with the usual anti-DFL regimen, and criticized the local endorsement, calling for Republican leaders to act.

And hours later they did. Minnesota’s GOP Senate Caucus said it would be supporting the non-endorsed candidate, Krueger. "While we respect our endorsing process in the Republican Party, some things rise far above process and party in terms of importance," wrote the caucus. "We see in Alison Krueger an outstanding alternative candidate who, like Senator Wergin, combines excellent conservative credentials with a high degree of personal integrity and character. Accordingly, the Senate Republican Caucus will be throwing its full support behind Alison Krueger and encouraging Republicans in SD 16 to vote for her in the September 9th primary."

(MnpACT’s Dave Mindeman has traced the chain of events down to the minute.)

And perhaps spurred by the Star Tribune editorial, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman threw his criticism of Olson in the ring. "I stand firmly with the members of the Senate Republican Caucus who today announced that they will not support Mark Olson for the open Senate seat of Betsy Wergin," said Coleman. "His endorsement by the party is a matter that is of great concern to me. … [W]e must maintain and uphold our beliefs that violence of any kind, whether it is in word or in deed, should not be rewarded with our party’s support, of the support of voters in Senate District 16.”

Could the endorsement put the race in play for DFL? Smart Politics’s Eric Ostermeier crunched the numbers: "In the event Olson should actually win the primary, given the momentum for the DFL at the margins in the district and its modestly competitive 15-point race in 2006, the DFL just might gain yet another Senate seat this fall."