Carnahan was elected as chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota in 2017. Under the motto "Make Minnesota Red 2018", the state party hoped to carry the momentum of Trump almost winning Minnesota in 2016, however, the party did not do well in those elections. After the 2020 elections, she alleged that the election results showed "extreme abnormalities and statistical variations from Minnesota's historic voter trends." A reporter for Minnesota Public Radio examined the results and declared that his analysis of the data did not support her opinion.
