MANKATO — Vigorously unanimous in their desire to beat Democratic Congressman Tim Walz, the delegates at the 1st District Republican Convention Saturday were deeply divided over who could accomplish the task.

At high noon, former state Rep. Allen Quist of St. Peter and state Sen. Mike Parry of Waseca asked the 282 delegates for their endorsement as the Republican challenger to the three-term Mankato Democrat. More than 10 hours and 16 ballots later, the delegates remained split and Quist was increasingly attacking Parry — who led for the first 14 ballots but could never pull away.

By 9:15 p.m., Quist and his supporters were attempting to goad Parry into a mid-convention debate and the tactic was a turning point. Parry ignored the debate challenge, even as Quist’s backers chanted “Debate! Debate! Debate!” at him as he walked through the Kato Ballroom setting of the convention.

Quist went so far as to leave his five debate questions — on topics ranging from foreign policy to taxes — on the podium with the request that Parry answer them when he spoke next. (Quist promised to return the favor if Parry left a list of five questions for him).

Quist explained to delegates that his third question — “Why is cap and trade a terrible bill?” — was designed to show Parry’s ignorance.

“I don’t think Mike Parry has a clue what cap and trade is, but I’m going to give him a chance to prove me wrong,” he said, prompting at least one loud ‘Boo.”

Quist’s final question, though, was one he wanted delegates to ask themselves: “Why in heavens name would you want to endorse a candidate to debate Tim Walz when that candidate is afraid to debate Allen Quist?”

Parry bounded to the podium, looking to offer a variation of the same enthusiastic speech he’d given throughout the day about his ability to topple Walz.

“We’re here to do one thing,” Parry said.

But Quist supporters — recognizing that Parry wasn’t going to bite on the debate challenge — showered Parry with boos.

“We’re here to beat Tim Walz,” Parry shouted over jeers that continued through his brief speech.

When the delegates voted again, the 15th ballot of the day, Quist had his first lead of the day — 140-135. When the 16th ballot was counted just after 10 p.m., Quist had expanded the gap to 145-129.

That was a position Quist expected to be in from the beginning, according to his pre-convention prediction. In fact, Parry was the one with the solid edge on the first ballot — 150 to 131. Over the next two hours and four rounds of voting, though, Quist slowly cut into the lead. A 19-vote Parry lead became 16, then 11, then eight, then two.

After the fifth ballot, with Parry clinging to a 142-140 lead, state Sen. Al DeKruif  of Elysian was concerned about his colleague’s eroding support. The Quist momentum needed to be stemmed, and soon, said DeKruif, a Parry supporter and donor.

“If we can stop the bleeding, the sharks will stop circling,” DeKruif said.

While Parry still held a narrow lead, he spoke like an underdog during a quick interview as he went from delegate to delegate to shore up his lagging numbers.

“We’re going to keep battling here because I’m a fighter,” said Parry, recalling an endorsement battle he’d heard about that went until 4 a.m. “... I’m here for the long haul.”

Following the nail-biter of a fourth ballot, the candidates were given the opportunity to speak for the first time since voting began at 12:30 p.m.

Speaking just after 3 p.m., Parry evoked images of his high school football days as an undersized lineman. He promised to be as relentless in going after Walz as he was on the gridiron against larger opponents, and he said that aggressive approach was necessary if Walz was going to be defeated.

“We cannot let this election pass us by,” Parry said. “We have to have the candidate who can get the job done.”

Quist followed, saying it takes more than spirit to win a congressional election.

“It takes money to beat Walz,” said Quist, estimating $1 million will be necessary.

Neither Republican has shown fund-raising strength to date, trailing Walz by about $700,000. Quist then made a dramatic promise to close that gap, pledging to do what department store heir Mark Dayton did in some of his campaigns  — self-finance.

“My wife and I have a net worth the same as his,” the retired farmer said of Dayton. “... We will put in up to a million (dollars).”

The response from the delegates was somewhat muted, although they applauded when he said he’d prefer to pass on his wealth to his children and grandchildren but was willing to spend it now if it ensured them another legacy.

“I’d much rather leave them a country where they are free,” Quist said.

The result of the emotional speeches? Not a single vote changed on the ensuing sixth ballot. Parry: 142. Quist: 140.

The result of the unmoving vote total? Some delegates were ready to call it quits.

A delegate made a motion to vote for “no endorsement,” meaning the question of Walz’s Republican opponent would be answered in the Aug. 14 primary election by the general population.

“Let the voters decide,” he said.

An Olmsted County delegate asked his fellow Republican activists to be realistic. Three hours of effort and five ballots and heartfelt speeches had moved fewer than 10 delegates from their position on the first ballot. To get an endorsement, either Quist or Parry needed to get three times that many to switch sides.

“I don’t see the purpose of being here until midnight and then deciding there’s going to be no endorsement,” he said.

The bulk of the delegates were far from ready to give up, decisively voting down the motion.

The passion and loyalty they felt toward their preferred candidate wasn’t hard to find.

“I love Quist,” said Zach Thompson, a senior at Blue Earth High School. “He’s just so honest. So smart, too.”

Quist gave Thompson about an hour of his time in the lead-up to the convention. Parry came by Thompson’s house as well but didn’t sway him.

“He hasn’t made as much of an impression on me,” Thompson said. “... Parry, I don’t know who he is. He seems to put on a facade.”

James Staloch, a Waseca County delegate, had an opposite opinion of Parry.

“We know him,” said Staloch, who’s watched him work on the Waseca City Council and in the state Senate. “He has a very forceful personality. I think he speaks his mind quite effectively.”

Walz was the target of most of the harshest words from Parry and Quist in the first eight hours of the contest, although Quist began to more overtly attack Parry as the event dragged on with no substantial movement in the vote totals. (Seventh ballot: Parry - 148, Quist - 133. Eighth ballot: Parry - 146, Quist - 136. Ninth ballot: Parry -149, Quist - 132. 10th ballot: Parry - 141, Quist - 138.)

After the seventh ballot, Quist brought up Parry’s comment on Twin Cities Public Television that he wouldn’t bring home American troops from Afghanistan because there are no jobs for them to come home to.

“That’s a political killer,” Quist said, suggesting Democrats would savage Parry for using war as a job-creation program. “I don’t know how you survive that.”

He also criticized Parry for not being as definitive on budget-balancing and other key issues, saying the endorsement fight was between “the mushy guy” and “the consistent conservative.”

As the event moved into the evening hours, Parry tried a high-energy approach. He praised the process as an example of “what makes America great” and ended with an exhuberant “Join the Parry team! We will win in November!”

Quist countered: “Do we have to beat Tim Walz? Yes. But you don’t do it by yelling, you do it by strategy.”

By the 11th ballot and 12th ballots, the only gains were in the protest-vote category. Parry was at 141 and 140, respectively. Quist dropped to 135 and then ticked up to 136. Six votes in each ballot were either blank or cast for a guy (Mankato’s Dave Kruse) who isn’t running for Congress.

Along with the sharp divide on the convention floor, there was a noticeable division in cheer strategies. A group of grade-school-age Parry supporters were going with classic football cheers such as “Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar, all for Parry stand up and holler!”

The Quist team at one point went with the less common chant: “He reads the bills! He reads the bills! He reads the bills!”

But the cheers weren’t changing minds either.

Ballot 13? Parry led 143-133.

Another call was made for “no endorsement,” with a delegate predicting: “We’ll be here at 8 in the morning. It’ll be 143-133. ... Let’s be done with this.”

A Waseca County delegate suggested giving up could be seen as a positive, provided Quist and Parry agree to attack only Walz — not each other — during the primary election campaigning.

“I don’t look at this as a no-endorsement. I look at it as a co-endorsement,” the Waseca County man said. “We love both these candidates equally.”

The love didn’t last much longer. And the hope the two candidates would attack Walz rather than each other disappeared in the nighttime air.