Allen Quist mulling challenge to Tim Walz

Former legislator Allen Quist announced on his campaign website Wednesday that he is considering running against Rep. Tim Walz in Minnesota’s First Congressional District.

Quist lost the Republican endorsement to former legislator Randy Demmer in 2010. Quist, who is a longtime religious right activist, has run for office several times, including a primary challenge to Gov. Arne Carlson who Quist thought was too liberal.

“I wish to thank all the patriotic Republicans who have been encouraging me to become a candidate for First District Congress,” Quist wrote on his website. “Be assured that I hear what you are saying, and I am now leaning in the direction of aggressively going for it. I will make a final decision soon.”

Quist ran in 2010 for the Republican endorsement and made national headlines for his statements at the Wabasha County Republicans Christmas Party when he said that defeating liberals was more important than defeating terrorism. He lost the endorsement to Randy Demmer, who lost in the general election to Walz.

He’s spent a long time in politics and during his stint in the Minnesota Legislature in the 1980s, he made a name for himself by opposing LGBT rights and ranting against abortion, two topics on which he has authored books.

In the 1988 legislative session, Quist was notorious for his emphasis on social issues. “He alleged that Mankato State University was encouraging the spread of AIDS by sponsoring a counseling center for gays, comparing it to a center for the Ku Klux Klan,” wrote the Star Tribune’s Dane Smith in 1994.

Sen. Mike Parry is the only Republican challenger to have formally announced for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District. He officially kicked off his campaign on Thursday morning with a series of stops in southern Minnesota.

“I’m running for Congress because Congressman Tim Walz and the Washington crowd have sold us out,” Parry said in a statement. “They have mortgaged the futures of our children and grandchildren with their wasteful spending. I look forward to speaking with families across southern Minnesota about how we can bring fiscal responsibility to Washington.”