1996 United States Senate election in Minnesota

1996 United States Senate election in Minnesota

←  1990 November 5, 1996 2002  →

Nominee Paul Wellstone Rudy Boschwitz Dean Barkley Party Democratic (DFL) Republican Reform Popular vote 1,098,430 901,194 152,328 Percentage 50.32% 41.28% 6.98%

County results Precinct results Wellstone:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Boschwitz:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Other:     >90% Tie:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50%     No votes

U.S. senator before election Paul Wellstone Democratic (DFL) Elected U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone Democratic (DFL)

The 1996 United States Senate election in Minnesota was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic senator Paul Wellstone won re-election to a second term defeating Republican former senator Rudy Boschwitz in a rematch. ^[1]

Primary elections were held on September 10. Both Wellstone and Boschwitz were easily nominated.

DFL primary

Candidates

• Richard Franson, perennial candidate
• Ed Hansen, nudie film director and editor
• Ole Savior, perennial candidate
• Paul Wellstone, incumbent U.S. senator since 1991

Results

Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic (DFL)	Paul Wellstone (incumbent)	194,699	86.41%
	Democratic (DFL)	Richard Franson	16,465	7.31%
	Democratic (DFL)	Ed Hansen	9,990	4.43%
	Democratic (DFL)	Oloveuse S. Savior	4,180	1.86%
Turnout			225,334

Republican primary

Candidates

• Rudy Boschwitz, former U.S. senator (1979–91)
• Bert McKasy, former Minnesota Commissioner of Commerce and state representative from Mendota Heights
• Monti Moreno, Stillwater businessman and salon owner ^[3]
• Stephen Young
• John J. Zeleniak

Campaign

The Minnesota Republican convention declined to endorse a candidate, having deadlocked on fourteen ballots over two days. Although McKasy led on every ballot, he never received more than 56 percent of the delegates' vote. 60 percent was required for an endorsement. ^[4] The non-endorsement was seen as a victory for Boschwitz, who was better known and more popular among the general Republican electorate. ^{[4] [5]}

Results

Republican primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rudy Boschwitz	158,678	80.59%
	Republican	Stephen Young	16,324	8.29%
	Republican	Bert McKasy	12,711	6.46%
	Republican	Monti Moreno	6,536	3.32%
	Republican	John J. Zeleniak	2,655	1.35%
Turnout			196,904

General election

Candidates

• Dean Barkley, attorney and Independence Party nominee for U.S. Senate in 1994 (Reform)
• Rudy Boschwitz, former U.S. Senator (Republican)
• Roy Ezra Carlton (Libertarian)
• Tim Davis, marijuana legalization activist (Grassroots)
• Thomas A. Fiske (Socialist Workers)
• Howard Hanson (Resource)
• Steve Johnson (Natural Law)
• Paul Wellstone, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1991 (DFL)

Campaign

Wellstone had unseated the two-term senator Boschwitz in the 1990 election. Boschwitz filed for a rematch. ^[6] He released ads calling Wellstone "embarrassingly liberal" and "Senator Welfare", ^[7] and accused Wellstone of supporting flag burning, a move some believe backfired. ^[8] As in 1990, Wellstone had a massive grassroots campaign that inspired college students, poor people and minorities to get involved in politics for the first time. Boschwitz significantly outspent Wellstone on campaign advertising and the race was closely contested, but Wellstone defeated Boschwitz by a nine-point margin in a three-way race. Dean Barkley received 7% of the vote ^[9] and was appointed by Governor Jesse Ventura to serve the last 60 days of Wellstone's term after Wellstone died in a plane crash 11 days before the 2002 election.

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Paul Wellstone (D)	Rudy Boschwitz (R)	Dean Barkley (Rf)	Undecided
Mason-Dixon [10] [A]	September 1–3, 1996	803 (RV)	± 3.5%	46%	37%	4%	13%

Hypothetical polling

Wellstone vs. Moreno vs. Barkley

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Paul Wellstone (D)	Monte Moreno (R)	Dean Barkley (Rf)	Undecided
Mason-Dixon [10] [A]	September 1–3, 1996	803 (RV)	± 3.5%	51%	20%	6%	23%

Wellstone vs. Young vs. Barkley

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Paul Wellstone (D)	Steve Young (R)	Dean Barkley (Rf)	Undecided
Mason-Dixon [10] [A]	September 1–3, 1996	803 (RV)	± 3.5%	50%	21%	5%	24%

Debates

1996 United States Senate election in Minnesota debates

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Republican	Reform
Key:  P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Paul Wellstone	Rudy Boschwitz	Dean Barkley
1	Sep. 16, 1996	Minnesota Chamber of Commerce	Chris Conangla	C-SPAN	P	P	N
2	Oct. 29, 1996	Minnesota League of Women Voters WCCO-TV	Virginia Sweeney	C-SPAN	P	P	P

Results

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic (DFL)	Paul Wellstone (incumbent)	1,098,430	50.32%
	Republican	Rudy Boschwitz	901,194	41.28%
	Reform	Dean Barkley	152,328	6.98%
	Grassroots	Tim Davis	14,139	0.65%
	Libertarian	Roy Ezra Carlton	5,428	0.25%
	Resource Party	Howard Hanson	4,381	0.20%
	Natural Law	Steve Johnson	4,321	0.20%
	Socialist Workers	Thomas A. Fiske	1,554	0.07%
	Write-in		1,130	0.05%
Total votes			2,182,905	100.00%
	Democratic (DFL) hold

See also

• 1996 United States Senate elections

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

Partisan clients

1. Poll commissioned by Minnesota Public Radio, KARE (TV) & the St. Paul Pioneer Press

References

1. "Our Campaigns - MN US Senate Race - Nov 05, 1996".
2. "Primary Election Results". OurCampaigns.
3. "MPR: Election 1996: Story Archive". news.minnesota.publicradio.org. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
4. "POLITICS: MINNESOTA G.O.P.;Party Is Split And Endorses No Candidate (Published 1996)". June 2, 1996. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
5. N; P; R (June 9, 1996). ". Minnesota Gop". NPR. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
6. "Star Tribune Archives".
7. Welch, William M. (September 11, 1996). "A classic, clear choice in Minnesota Liberal Wellstone vs. conservative Boschwitz". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012.
8. "Pioneer Press: Search Results". September 25, 1996.
9. Banisky, Sandy (October 14, 1996). "Incumbent is liberal and proud; Campaign: In Hubert H. Humphrey's home state, a former Republican senator, Rudy Boschwitz, is using his incumbent opponent's views against him.; CAMPAIGN 1996". The Sun. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012.
10. "MPR: Election 1996". Minnesota Public Radio. September 5, 1996. Archived from the original on June 30, 2025. Retrieved June 30, 2025.