Delegates to the Republican Second Congressional District Convention March 29 unanimously endorsed both Sen. Norm Coleman and Congressman John Kline and elected Watertown Mayor K.J. McDonald as a Republican National Delegate at Minnesota’s Republican Second Congressional District convention, according to a Carver County Republicans press release.

There were 63 candidates vying for the three National Delegate spots. McDonald was elected, along with Joe Repya and Diana Bratlie, by the 309 delegates to the GOP Congressional District 2 (CD2) who met in Northfield.

All three will attend the Republican National Convention in St. Paul this August, where Republicans will endorse their candidate for U.S. President. In Minnesota, delegates are not required to commit to a presidential candidate, the release stated.

McDonald has been involved in Republican politics for more than 40 years. He had served as Watertown’s mayor in the 1970s, and as a state representative for 14 years, representing all of Carver County before being elected as Watertown’s mayor again in 2005. McDonald also served in the Korean War.

Repya is a retired Army lieutenant colonel who saw combat in Vietnam and Desert Storm. He lives in Eagan. Bratlie is a long-time Republican from Lakeville. “It is indeed an honor to be elected,” McDonald stated, in the press release. “During all my years of public service, this is the first opportunity I’ve had to attend a National Convention. I am looking forward to it.”

Carver County Republican Chair Amy Anderson said McDonald was elected easily. “K.J. is a remarkable man,” she said. “At our Carver County Republican convention in Victoria, almost all of those vying to become a delegate to the CD2 convention, and to the state convention, stood to say that they came to conservatism and the Republican Party through K.J. And, while others may have strayed from the party’s foundations, K.J. never lost his conservative footing," she stated.

"His conservatism stems from his service in the military, where he took a pledge to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. No one who has worked harder to defend individual liberty than K.J.”

Carver County’s 46 delegates were the largest delegation to the CD2 convention. The 46 delegates had been elected to CD2 by the delegates who attended the Carver County Republican Convention in Victoria in early March.

The delegates elected to the Carver County GOP Convention in Victoria were chosen by citizens who attended the February Republican precinct caucuses held in communities throughout Carver County.