Nothing says making your party more relevant to today’s voters like electing a guy too extreme and out of touch to win a MN Senate race in 2012. On Saturday, the MNGOP elected their brand new Party Chair. They picked Keith Downey.

Now, folks all across Minnesota will be learning what Edina residents already know: Keith Downey has the wrong priorities for Minnesota.

Middle class Minnesotans need leaders who will fight for them, but Keith Downey is firmly on the side of big corporations.

He chose to shut down our government to protect a tax break for his corporate friends, but voted to raise taxes on renters who earn less than $55,000 a year.

He sided with insurance companies to deny coverage for mammograms and maternity care.

Downey even voted to criminalize stem cell research that could cure devastating diseases like Alzheimer’s.

And that’s not all. As Minnesotans, we believe our daughters should have an equal opportunity to reach the top, but Downey sponsored a bill to repeal equal pay rules for women. Downey’s plan would allow employers to pay women less than men for the same job.

Downey’s unfair rules wouldn’t just hurt women – they’d hurt all Minnesota families.

Downey failed to get elected in 2012 because voters knew he’d be wrong for Minnesota, and this is the guy Republicans think will lead them out of millions of dollars of debt and an embarrasing 2012 election cycle?

We don’t think so.