Minnesota Minute: General Election Results

DFL Wins Governor’s Office and Expands Democratic Legislative Majorities

Minnesota Democrats emerged from Tuesday’s election with a decisive victory, winning the Governor’s Office and securing clear majorities in both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature. The results will give the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party unified control of state government when lawmakers return to St. Paul in January – a significant change from the narrowly divided government that defined the previous biennium.

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Klobuchar Elected Governor

Amy Klobuchar won the governor’s race for the DFL, defeating Republican Lisa Demuth by a margin of 55.5% to 42.6%. Klobuchar entered the closing weeks of the campaign as the favorite to win. She had consistently led Demuth in polling and entered the final stretch with a significant fundraising advantage, considerable statewide experience and strong name recognition. Klobuchar is the state’s 42nd governor and the first woman to serve as governor. Minnesota was one of only 17 states that had never elected a woman governor. Ben Schierer, a former Fergus Falls mayor, will serve as lieutenant governor.

In her victory speech, Klobuchar said she wasn’t looking to move the state left or right and pledged to serve all Minnesotans regardless of how they voted. She called for a top-to-bottom audit of state government and cited gas prices, health care costs and tariffs as top concerns.

Other Statewide Elections

Democrats also swept Minnesota’s other statewide constitutional offices. Attorney General Keith Ellison won reelection with 54 percent of the vote, defeating Republican Ronald J. Schutz. Pre-election polling had shown Schutz with a narrow lead, making Ellison’s eventual victory by eight points a particularly noteworthy result.

Secretary of State Steve Simon was also reelected with 54 percent of the vote against Republican Tad Jude.

Finally, in the open state auditor race, DFL candidate Zack Filipovich defeated Republican Scott Jensen.

Federal Offices

Democrats also captured Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate seat, with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan defeating Republican Michele Tafoya 54 percent to 44 percent in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Tina Smith. The race was Minnesota’s marquee contest as it was the first open U.S. Senate race in two decades and had been viewed as a toss-up heading into Election Day. Flanagan is the nation’s first Native American woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

In Minnesota’s eight U.S. House races, the DFL now has a 5-3 advantage in the delegation. The Democrats may have flipped the 1st Congressional District, where DFL candidate Jake Johnson finished with 49.99 percent against current incumbent Rep. Brad Finstad (R) with 49.89 percent (a difference of 323 votes). As the race is within a margin of 0.25  percent, state law requires that there will be a publicly funded recount. Democrats also handily won the open 2nd Congressional District (formerly occupied by Rep. Angie Craig (DFL)) where DFL candidate Matt Little beat Republican Eric Pratt by almost 15 points. Democrats won reelection the 3rd, 4th and 5th Congressional Districts and Republicans won reelection in the 6th, 7th and 8th.

Minnesota House: DFL Wins 77-57 Majority

The DFL will hold 77 seats in the Minnesota House compared with 57 for Republicans, a net Democratic gain of 10 seats. That represents a dramatic shift from the extraordinarily close balance going into Election Day, as the House was tied 67-67.

The pre-election landscape heavily favored Democrats because six Republican representatives were defending districts won by Kamala Harris in the previous presidential election, while the DFL held only one district that had also voted for Donald Trump.

The DFL flipped seats in suburban and greater Minnesota areas, including around St. Peter, Maple Grove, Rochester and Winona while Republicans lost several incumbents. House members defeated included Danny Nadeau of Rogers, Jeff Dotseth of Kettle River, Natalie Zeleznikar of Fredenberg Township, Erika Schwartz of Nicollet, Aaron Repinski of Winona, Wayne Johnson of Cottage Grove, and Jeff Witte of Lakeville.

The size of the DFL victory is particularly important. A 77-seat caucus provides considerably more operating room than a one- or two-seat majority and leadership will have greater flexibility to absorb occasional defections from members representing competitive districts or lawmakers who disagree with portions of the caucus agenda.

Minnesota Senate: DFL Wins 39-28 Majority

Going into the election, DFLers held a one-seat majority of 34 to 33 in the Minnesota Senate, with all 67 seats on the ballot and 34 needed for control. The DFL exceeded expectations and flipped multiple Republican-held seats and now have a 39-28 majority.

Among the notable DFL pickups, Angie Nelson defeated incumbent Republican Jim Abeler in Anoka County, Mark Legvold beat incumbent Bill Lieske in a district that spans from suburban Dakota County to rural Northfield, and Chris Ford beat incumbent Michael Kreun in Blaine. Kristy Janigo (DFL) also won the open District 37 seat over Republican Brady Hoag.

Republicans picked up at least one seat, as Austin Peterson (R) defeated incumbent DFLer Rob Kupec in Moorhead by a four vote margin and is headed to an automatic recount. Republican Sen. Karin Housley also led DFL challenger Nat Smith by only 42 votes in the Stillwater area.

DFL Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy said stalled legislation to restrict certain high-power guns and ammunition magazines would be among the first things to move next year.

Four Recounts

Four contests remain subject to recounts because of extremely narrow margins:

• US House District 1: DFL candidate Jake Johnson beat Republican and incumbent Rep. Brad Finstad by 323 votes.
• Senate District 4: Republican Austin Peterson beat DFL candidate and incumbent Sen. Rob Kupec by 4 votes.
• Senate District 33: Republican and incumbent Sen. Karin Housley beat DFL candidate Nat Smith by 42 votes.
• House District 32A: Republican and incumbent Rep. Nolan West beat DFL candidate Amanda Matchett by 22 votes.

The recounts matter for the individual districts and could slightly adjust the final partisan margins. They will not, however, determine overall control of either legislative chamber given the size of the DFL majorities.

Bottom Line

The central takeaway is the return of a DFL trifecta in Minnesota: a Democratic governor paired with substantial Democratic majorities in both the Minnesota House and Senate. For businesses, associations and other organizations with interests before state government, that means the 2027 legislative agenda is likely to be set primarily within the DFL rather than negotiated between the two parties. The most consequential negotiations may therefore occur between the Governor-elect, House DFL leadership, Senate DFL leadership and the ideological and geographic blocs within their respective caucuses.

There will also be a substantial fiscal dimension to the new government’s agenda. Minnesota’s February forecast projected a $3.7 billion surplus in FY 2026-27, but it also warned of a continuing structural imbalance, with projected spending growth exceeding revenue growth. Those competing realities will shape how aggressively the new trifecta can pursue additional spending commitments or tax changes.

The last Minnesota DFL trifecta, during the 2023-24 session, adopted major policy changes including paid family and medical leave and marijuana legalization. Another trifecta could produce a similarly ambitious agenda. With substantially more comfortable legislative margins this time, an active 2027 session is expected.

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