2020 Minnesota Senate election

Last updated

2020 Minnesota State Senate election
Flag of Minnesota (1983-2024).svg
  2016 November 3, 2020 2022  

All 67 seats in the Minnesota Senate
34 seats needed for a majority
Turnout79.98% Increase2.svg 5.26 pp
 Majority partyMinority party
  Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka (cropped).jpg Susan Kent 2018-2 (cropped).jpg
Leader Paul Gazelka Susan Kent
Party Republican Democratic (DFL)
Leader sinceNovember 10, 2016February 1, 2020
Leader's seat9th–Nisswa 53rd–Woodbury
Last election34 seats, 48.96%33 seats, 50.12%
Seats before3532
Seats won3433
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 1Increase2.svg 1
Popular vote1,532,4461,577,523
Percentage48.39%49.82%
SwingDecrease2.svg0.57 ppDecrease2.svg0.30 pp

2020 Minnesota Senate seats gains and holds.svg
Results:
     Republican hold     Republican gain
     DFL hold     DFL gain
Vote share:
     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%

Majority Leader before election

Paul Gazelka
Republican

Elected Majority Leader

Paul Gazelka
Republican

The 2020 Minnesota Senate election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 3, 2020, to elect members to the Senate of the 92nd Minnesota Legislature. A primary election was held in several districts on August 11, 2020. The election coincided with the election of the other house of the Legislature, the House of Representatives, and other elections.

Contents

Background

The last election in 2016 resulted in the Republican Party of Minnesota winning a majority of seats, after losing a majority to the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) only four years earlier in the previous election in 2012. In conjunction with the result of the House election, it also resulted in the return of all-Republican control of the Legislature for the first time since 2012, and only the second time Republicans had had majorities in both houses since the return of partisan elections to the Senate in 1976. Control of the Senate had alternated between the Republicans and the DFL every election since 2010. All-Republican control of the Legislature ended when the DFL won a majority in the House in 2018.

A special election was held for District 11 on February 5, 2019, as a result of the resignation of incumbent DFL Senator Tony Lourey after he was selected to be the next commissioner of human services by Governor-elect Tim Walz in early January 2019. [1] Republican state representative Jason Rarick won the special election, increasing the Republican majority to 35 seats. [2]

In October 2020, The Washington Post identified this state election as one of eight whose outcomes could affect partisan balance during post-census redistricting. [3]

Electoral system

The 67 members of the Senate were elected from single-member districts via first-past-the-post voting for two-year terms. Contested nominations of recognized major parties (DFL, Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis, Legal Marijuana Now, and Republican) for each district were determined by an open primary election. Minor party candidates were nominated by petition. Write-in candidates must have filed a request with the secretary of state's office for votes for them to be counted. The filing period was from May 19 to June 2, 2020. [4]

Retiring members

Retiring incumbents (light red and light blue) by district Minnesota Senate 2020 retirements.svg
Retiring incumbents (light red and light blue) by district

Republican

DFL

Primary elections results

A primary election was held on August 11 in 16 districts to nominate Republican and DFL candidates. Four Republican nominations and 13 DFL nominations were contested. Nine incumbents were opposed for their party's nomination. DFL incumbents Erik Simonson in District 7 and Jeff Hayden in District 62 were not renominated. [9] [10]

DistrictPartyCandidatesVotes%
6DFL David Tomassoni (inc)6,51986.41
Christopher Horoshak1,02513.59
7DFLJen McEwen8,60373.54
Erik Simonson (inc)3,09526.46
9Republican Paul Gazelka (inc)5,82283.49
Richard Dahl1,15116.51
10Republican Carrie Ruud (inc)5,55882.50
Shaun Christian Hansen1,17917.50
22DFLShawna Marshall1,89776.06
Roger Elgersma59723.94
34DFLBonnie Westlin5,81071.81
Aarica Coleman2,28128.19
39DFLJosiah Hill7,18886.94
Brian Hile1,08013.06
43DFL Chuck Wiger 6,05169.67
Natasha Lapcinski2,63430.33
44DFLAnn Johnson Stewart9,67276.59
Zina Alston Fizer2,95623.41
47RepublicanJulia Coleman4,58663.52
Tom Funk2,63436.48
DFLAddie Miller5,10586.97
Bala Chintaginjala76513.03
49RepublicanJulie Dupré2,58162.78
Jenny Rhoades1,53037.22
53DFL Susan Kent 6,41866.63
Marquita Stephens3,21433.37
56DFLLindsey Port4,66966.70
Kevin Shea1,92527.50
Richard Tucker4065.80
59DFL Bobby Joe Champion 11,63977.07
Suleiman Isse3,46322.93
62DFL Omar Fateh 11,10954.86
Jeff Hayden (inc)9,14045.14
65DFL Sandy Pappas 7,48463.67
Laverne McCartney Knighton4,27036.33
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State [11]

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [12] TossupOctober 21, 2020

Results

Districts won 2020 Minnesota senate wins.svg
Districts won
MNSenateStructure2020.svg
PartyCandidatesVotesSeats
No.%+/−No.+/−%
Republican Party of Minnesota 671,532,44648.39−0.5734−150.75
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party 651,577,52349.82−0.3033+149.25
Legal Marijuana Now Party 729,8410.94+0.62000.00
Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis Party 617,2910.55+0.55000.00
Independence–Alliance Party of Minnesota 15,6540.18+0.07000.00
Write-in N/A3,8350.12−0.09000.00
Total3,166,590100.00±0.0067±0100.00
Invalid/blank votes127,1903.86−1.38
Total3,293,780100.00±0
Registered voters/Turnout [13] 4,118,46279.98+5.26
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State, [14] Star Tribune [15]

Close races

Districts where the margin of victory was under 10%:

  1. District 14, 0.8%(gain)
  2. District 34, 1.56%
  3. District 26, 1.76%
  4. District 25, 2.53%
  5. District 27, 4.5%(gain)
  6. District 38, 4.15%
  7. District 37, 4.25%
  8. District 54, 5.83%
  9. District 39, 6.02%
  10. District 56, 6.12%(gain)
  11. District 33, 8%
  12. District 53, 8.26%
  13. District 58, 9.08%(gain)
  14. District 4, 9.16%
  15. District 3, 9.51%

District results

DistrictIncumbentCandidates [16]
NamePartyFirst
elected
NamePartyVotes%Winner
Party
1 Mark Johnson Republican 2016 Mark Johnson Republican27,97269.63Republican
Reed PerkinsDFL12,16230.28
2 Paul Utke Republican 2016 Paul Utke Republican28,95165.11Republican
Alan RoyDFL15,45834.76
3 Tom Bakk DFL 2002 Tom Bakk DFL26,70055.19DFL
Christopher HoganRepublican21,61344.68
4 Kent Eken DFL 2012 Kent Eken DFL23,33354.53DFL
Mark LarsonRepublican19,41545.37
5 Justin Eichorn Republican 2016 Justin Eichorn Republican25,16955.59Republican
Rita Albrecht DFL16,70636.89
Robyn SmithLMN2,4005.30
Dennis BarsnessGrassroots9672.14
6 David Tomassoni DFL 2000 David Tomassoni DFL25,55757.04DFL
John MorenRepublican19,19142.83
7 Erik Simonson [a] DFL 2016 Jen McEwenDFL30,52668.32DFL
Donna BergstromRepublican14,08131.51
8 Bill Ingebrigtsen Republican 2006 Bill Ingebrigtsen Republican33,62567.69Republican
Michele AndersonDFL15,99732.20
9 Paul Gazelka Republican 2010 Paul Gazelka Republican33,47275.60Republican
A. John PetersDFL10,76524.31
10 Carrie Ruud Republican 2002 [b] Carrie Ruud Republican33,02767.55Republican
Steve SamuelsonDFL15,82832.37
11 Jason Rarick Republican 2019 [c] Jason Rarick Republican24,49856.58Republican
Michelle LeeDFL18,76143.33
12 Torrey Westrom Republican 2012 Torrey Westrom Republican33,44274.42Republican
Jill AbahsainDFL11,46725.52
13 Jeff Howe Republican 2018 [c] Jeff Howe Republican32,62369.43Republican
Michael WillemsenDFL14,30630.45
14 Jerry Relph Republican 2016 Aric PutnamDFL18,31846.39DFL
Jerry Relph Republican18,00245.59
Jaden PartlowLMN3,1277.92
15 Andrew Mathews Republican 2016 Andrew Mathews Republican33,88672.25Republican
Brent KristDFL12,95727.63
16 Gary Dahms Republican 2010 Gary Dahms Republican29,69673.64Republican
Joshua PrineIA5,65414.02
Steve PreslickaLMN4,88012.10
17 Andrew Lang Republican 2016 Andrew Lang Republican28,33767.86Republican
Fernando AlvaradoDFL13,38332.05
18 Scott Newman Republican 2010 Scott Newman Republican31,35771.35Republican
Chad TschimperleDFL12,53828.53
19 Nick Frentz DFL 2016 Nick Frentz DFL26,16559.82DFL
Elizabeth BangertRepublican17,50440.02
20 Rich Draheim Republican 2016 Rich Draheim Republican26,52354.24Republican
Jon OlsonDFL19,43139.73
Jason HoschetteGrassroots2,9015.93
21 Mike Goggin Republican 2016 Mike Goggin Republican27,98159.67Republican
Ralph KaehlerDFL18,87140.25
22 Bill Weber Republican 2012 Bill Weber Republican26,69769.17Republican
Shawna MarshallDFL9,93625.74
Brian AbrahamsonGrassroots1,9475.04
23 Julie Rosen Republican 2002 Julie Rosen Republican32,53378.66Republican
David PulkrabekLMN8,73021.11
24 John Jasinski Republican 2016 John Jasinski Republican25,94363.66Republican
Roger SteinkampDFL14,75636.21
25 Dave Senjem Republican 2002 Dave Senjem Republican25,02151.21Republican
Sara FlickDFL23,78348.68
26 Carla Nelson Republican 2010 Carla Nelson Republican24,74050.86Republican
Aleta BorrudDFL23,83148.99
27 Dan Sparks DFL 2002 Gene DorninkRepublican19,75948.87Republican
Dan Sparks DFL17,94144.37
Tyler BecvarLMN2,6996.68
28 Jeremy Miller Republican 2010 Jeremy Miller Republican24,81157.66Republican
Sarah KrugerDFL18,17142.23
29 Bruce Anderson Republican 2012 Bruce Anderson Republican30,40563.23Republican
Chris BrazeltonDFL13,57228.23
Mary MurphyGrassroots4,0668.46
30 Mary Kiffmeyer Republican 2012 Mary Kiffmeyer Republican34,71467.25Republican
Diane NguyenDFL16,86132.66
31 Michelle Benson Republican 2010 Michelle Benson Republican35,98070.57Republican
Kate LuthnerDFL14,96229.34
32 Mark Koran Republican 2016 Mark Koran Republican32,49366.35Republican
Joshua FikeDFL16,41233.51
33 David Osmek Republican 2012 David Osmek Republican31,61453.97Republican
Gretchen PiperDFL26,92845.97
34 Warren Limmer Republican1995 [c] Warren Limmer Republican29,34750.74Republican
Bonnie WestlinDFL28,44349.18
35 Jim Abeler Republican 2016 [c] Jim Abeler Republican31,29162.63Republican
David NelsonDFL18,62237.27
36 John Hoffman DFL 2012 John Hoffman DFL27,58056.33DFL
Karen AttiaRepublican21,31943.55
37 Jerry Newton DFL 2016 Jerry Newton DFL26,10052.38DFL
Brad SanfordRepublican23,65947.48
38 Roger Chamberlain Republican 2010 Roger Chamberlain Republican28,04152.08Republican
Justin StofferahnDFL25,75547.83
39 Karin Housley Republican 2012 Karin Housley Republican29,24652.97Republican
Josiah HillDFL25,92146.95
40 Chris Eaton DFL2011 [c] Chris Eaton DFL24,29171.46DFL
Robert MarvinRepublican9,64728.38
41 Carolyn Laine [d] DFL 2016 Mary Kunesh-Podein DFL29,96766.85DFL
Lucia VogelRepublican14,79132.99
42 Jason Isaacson DFL 2016 Jason Isaacson DFL29,64558.71DFL
Ben SchwankeRepublican20,77141.14
43 Chuck Wiger DFL 1996 Chuck Wiger DFL26,34556.20DFL
Bob ZickRepublican16,52035.24
Doug DaubenspeckGrassroots3,9508.43
44 Paul Anderson [d] Republican 2016 Ann Johnson StewartDFL33,85558.74DFL
Greg PullesRepublican23,75641.22
45 Ann Rest DFL 2000 Ann Rest DFL29,05460.70DFL
Roxana BruinsRepublican14,04029.33
Andy SchulerLMN4,7299.88
46 Ron Latz DFL 2006 Ron Latz DFL37,97272.72DFL
Bryan BjörnsonRepublican14,18927.17
47 Scott Jensen [d] Republican 2016 Julia ColemanRepublican32,36657.63Republican
Addie MillerDFL23,72842.25
48 Steve Cwodzinski DFL 2016 Steve Cwodzinski DFL29,98558.15DFL
Jeff JiangRepublican21,55841.81
49 Melisa Franzen DFL 2012 Melisa Franzen DFL36,14962.77DFL
Julie DupréRepublican21,40337.16
50 Melissa Wiklund DFL 2012 Melissa Wiklund DFL30,51666.62DFL
Dean MumbleauRepublican15,24333.28
51 Jim Carlson DFL 2006 [e] Jim Carlson DFL30,71961.23DFL
Doug WillettsRepublican19,38938.65
52 Matt Klein DFL 2016 Matt Klein DFL29,73060.58DFL
Tomas SettellRepublican19,29139.31
53 Susan Kent DFL 2012 Susan Kent DFL29,53854.08DFL
Mary Giuliani Stephens Republican25,02445.82
54 Karla Bigham DFL 2018 [c] Karla Bigham DFL25,53052.85DFL
Leilani HolmstadtRepublican22,71247.02
55 Eric Pratt Republican 2012 Eric Pratt Republican31,08261.61Republican
Sahra OdowaDFL19,32238.30
56 Dan Hall Republican 2010 Lindsey PortDFL26,07153.01DFL
Dan Hall Republican23,06146.89
57 Greg Clausen DFL 2012 Greg Clausen DFL30,89756.41DFL
Jose JimenezRepublican23,82543.50
58 Matt Little DFL 2016 Zach DuckworthRepublican29,02055.01Republican
Matt Little DFL23,70144.93
59 Bobby Joe Champion DFL 2012 Bobby Joe Champion DFL33,81082.06DFL
Paul AndersonRepublican7,30017.72
60 Kari Dziedzic DFL2012 [c] Kari Dziedzic DFL37,48885.73DFL
Mary HolmbergRepublican6,17114.11
61 Scott Dibble DFL 2002 Scott Dibble DFL49,05084.78DFL
Jennifer ZielinskiRepublican8,72715.08
62 Jeff Hayden [a] DFL2011 [c] Omar FatehDFL33,10388.99DFL
Bruce LundeenRepublican3,94710.61
63 Patricia Torres Ray DFL 2006 Patricia Torres Ray DFL40,74277.64DFL
Diane NapperRepublican8,23115.69
Chris WrightGrassroots3,4606.59
64 Dick Cohen [d] DFL 1986 Erin Murphy DFL40,17478.68DFL
Sharon AndersonRepublican7,47114.63
Patti McArdellLMN3,2766.42
65 Sandy Pappas DFL 1990 Sandy Pappas DFL31,46381.47DFL
Paul HolmgrenRepublican7,04418.24
66 John Marty DFL 1986 John Marty DFL31,86776.90DFL
Greg CopelandRepublican9,48222.88
67 Foung Hawj DFL 2012 Foung Hawj DFL24,00873.86DFL
Alexander DeputieRepublican8,40725.86

Seats changing parties

PartyIncumbentDistrictFirst
elected
WinnerParty
Republican Jerry Relph 14 2016 Aric PutnamDFL
Paul Anderson [d] 44 2016 Ann Johnson StewartDFL
Dan Hall 56 2010 Lindsey PortDFL
DFL Dan Sparks 27 2002 Gene DorninkRepublican
Matt Little 58 2016 Zach DuckworthRepublican

Post-election changes

On November 18, 2020, longtime DFL senators Thomas M. Bakk and David Tomassoni announced they would be leaving the DFL party and form their own "Independent Caucus" in the state senate. [18] Majority Leader Paul Gazelka welcomed the move and promised to give both senators chairmanships on "prominent committees". This changed the senate composition to 34 Republicans, 31 Democrats, and two independents.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Lost primary election for party's nomination.
  2. Lost re-election in 2006. Elected again in 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Elected in a special election. [17]
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Retiring; not seeking re-election.
  5. Lost re-election 2010. Elected again in 2012.

References

  1. Coolican, J. Patrick (January 3, 2019). "Gov.-elect Tim Walz names seven new commissioners, including state Sen. Tony Lourey". Star Tribune . Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  2. Van Oot, Torey (February 6, 2019). "Republican Jason Rarick wins Minnesota Senate seat vacated by Democrat". Star Tribune . Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  3. Phillips, Amber (October 2, 2020). "The state legislative battles to watch in 2020". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  4. "Candidate Filing Periods". Minnesota Secretary of State . Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  5. Turtinen, Melissa (February 14, 2020). "Sen. Paul Anderson won't seek re-election for Senate District 44". Lakeshore Weekly News. MediaNews Group. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  6. Olson, Mark (July 22, 2019). "State. Sen. Scott Jensen won't seek re-election to District 47". Chaska Herald. Big Fish Works. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  7. "State Sen. Carolyn Laine will retire from the Legislature this year". ABC Newspapers. Adams Publishing Group. January 10, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  8. Van Oot, Torey (November 18, 2019). "Longtime DFL Sen. Dick Cohen of St. Paul won't run for re-election in 2020". Star Tribune . Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  9. Johnson, Brooks (August 12, 2020). "Jen McEwen beats incumbent Erik Simonson in DFL primary for Duluth Senate seat". Star Tribune . Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  10. Van Oot, Torey; Condon, Patrick (August 12, 2020). "Progressives shake up DFL incumbents in Minnesota". Star Tribune . Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  11. "Results for All State Senate Races". Minnesota Secretary of State . Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  12. "October Overview: Handicapping the 2020 State Legislature Races". The Cook Political Report . Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  13. "Statewide Reporting Statistics". Minnesota Secretary of State . Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  14. "Results for All State Senate Races". Minnesota Secretary of State . Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  15. "Minnesota election results 2020". Star Tribune . Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  16. "Candidate Filings". Minnesota Secretary of State . Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  17. "Party Control of the Minnesota Senate, 1951-present". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  18. Hauser, Tom; Maher, Tracy (November 18, 2020). "Longtime Minnesota senators quit DFL caucus to form Independent Caucus". KSTP-TV. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020.

Further reading