In the previous legislature, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) leveraged their existing trifecta to enact significant legislative changes, including paid family leave, universal free school meals, a progressive child tax credit, increased sales and gas taxes for housing and transportation respectively, codified abortion rights, established a commission to redesign the state flag, and eliminated public university tuition for families earning under $85,000. The slim majorities held by the DFL were maintained by narrow victories in key battleground districts. They won control of the chamber following the 2018 election and entered this cycle with a majority of 5 seats.[3]
The DFL lost 3 seats in Greater Minnesota to the Republicans, resulting in a tie with both parties winning 67 seats.[4] Two seats, in 14B in Saint Cloud and 54A in Shakopee, were won by the DFL within a 0.5% margin and held hand recounts, which confirmed the initial winners.[5]
Republicans challenged three seat results in court. In District 54A, 21 ballots went missing due to human error on the first day of absentee ballot processing, and the margin between candidates was only 15 votes after a recount.[6][7] The judge ruled in favor of Tabke, denying the request for a special election.[8]
In District 40B, Republicans successfully invalidated DFL winner Curtis Johnson's election certificate.[9] The judge ruled that Johnson did not meet residency requirements and was thus ineligible to take the oath of office.[10][11] This temporarily shifted the House majority to 67–66 in favor of Republicans until a special election was held, which shifted it back to 67–67. DFL representatives held a boycott of the first three weeks of the legislative sessions, in an attempt to deny the Republicans a quorum,[12] until the two parties made a power sharing agreement on February 5.[13] and on February 6, Lisa Demuth was elected as speaker.[14]
Outgoing incumbents
Retiring members DFL member retiring Republican member retiring
Major Minnesota news outlets published lists of House districts that were expected to be competitive in 2024 based on past results and campaign spending. The Minnesota Star Tribune considered 15 races competitive, MPR News listed 14 as districts to watch, MinnPost and the Minnesota Reformer both cited 16 districts.[35][36][37][38]
21 districts were decided by margins below 10 points, 16 races under 5 points, and 4 separated by less than 1%.[34] The closest contest was in District 54A, where Brad Tabke led by 14 votes on election night (0.06%); this margin was extended to 15 votes after a hand recount. Districts 54A and 14B both saw their results confirmed in recounts.[39][40]
A primary election was held in 19 districts to nominate Republican and DFL candidates. 15 Republican nominations and 7 DFL nominations were contested. Eight incumbents faced challenges for their party's nomination, with Brian Johnson (R-Cambridge), being the only incumbent who lost their party's nomination.[42]
Incumbent Republican Debra Kiel declined to seek re-election. Republican Steve Gander filed to succeed her and defeated DFLer Mike Christopherson by a wide margin.
Incumbent Republican Matt Grossell declined to seek re-election.[53] Republican Bidal Duran Jr. filed to succeed him and defeated DFLer Reed Olson by a margin of 3.83 points.
Incumbent Republican Natalie Zeleznikar ran for re-election. She defeated DFLer and former judge and nephew of former legislator Willard Munger, Mark Munger by a 130 vote, 0.60% margin.
The district was targetted by both parties due to its narrow margins in 2020, when Zeleznikar defeated long-time incumbent Mary Murphy by a margin of 33 votes.[54][55] In the campaign, high amounts of outside spending came into the district in support of both candidates, with spending in the district being the fifth most expensive race in the house of representatives.[56] During the campaign, both candidates maintained a friendly tone and stuck to traditional campaign messaging.[54]
Incumbent Republican Josh Heintzeman ran for re-election. He defeated Matthew Eric Zinda in the Republican primary and then defeated DFLer Emily LeClaire and independent Troy Kenneth Scheffler in the general election by a wide margin.
Incumbent DFLer Dave Lislegard declined to seek re-election.[58] Republican Cal Warwas defeated Matt Matasich in the primary and went on to defeat DFLer Lorrie Jantopoulos by a 13 point margin, flipping the seat.
Incumbent DFLer Liz Olson declined to seek re-election.[24] Two DFLers and one Republican filed to succeed her. DFLer Peter Johnson defeated Jordan Johnson in the primary and went on to defeat Republican Mark McGrew by a wide margin.
District 8B covers east Duluth. Incumbent Alicia Kozlowski (DFL) was first elected in 2022 with 70% of the vote.[24] She was re-elected by a similar margin in 2024.
First-term representative Bernie Perryman won the 2022 election over her DFL opponent by 199 votes. Perryman is a small business owner and chair of the St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce. She was also a regional vice president for Anheuser-Busch for 20 years.[71]
Abdi Daisane, a Somali American business owner, is the DFL challenger. Daisane moved to St. Cloud in 2013 to attend St. Cloud State University.[72] His priorities, according to his campaign website, include supporting affordable housing, increasing funding for the state's child care centers and advocating for climate justice.[73]
District 14B represents the other half of St. Cloud as well as part of Sauk Rapids. The results fell within the margin for a hand recount in some precincts. A recount confirmed Wolgamott's re-election and reduced his vote total by one.[39]
Incumbent Dan Wolgamott (DFL) won his 2022 race by 540 votes.[55] The three-term legislator ran for reelection. Last year, Wolgamott pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor DWI charge after he was suspected of drinking alcohol in the parking lot of a liquor store.[77]
GOP challenger Sue Ek ran for a St. Cloud House seat during a special election in 2005, but the state Supreme Court removed her from the ballot after agreeing with a lower court that she didn't live in St. Cloud long enough to meet the state's residency requirements.[78]
District 16A is in western Minnesota.[83] Incumbent Dean Urdahl (R), who took 73% of the vote in 2022, did not run for re-election.[29] Republican Scott Van Binsbergen won the election, taking 71.6% of the vote.
District 18 includes parts of Mankato and the cities of North Mankato and Kasota. Incumbent representative Jeff Brand (DFL) lost his bid for re-election to Republican candidate Erica Schwartz.
Brand was previously a St. Peter City Council member and board member of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities. Erica Schwartz lives in Nicollet, where she works at a local convenience store owned by her husband; Schwartz ran on inflation, law enforcement and education.[89] Schwartz was heard in a side conversation after a fundraiser saying that Democratic are leading the U.S. towards another Holocaust. She apologized for the comment.[90]
District 19A is in and around Faribault in southern Minnesota.[92] Incumbent Brian Daniels (R), who won with 64.9% of votes in 2022, did not run for re-election.[16] Republican Keith Allen held the seat with 64.6% of the vote.
District 19B is located in and around Owatonna in southern Minnesota. Incumbent John Petersburg (R), who won 70% of votes in 2022, did not run for re-election.[26] Republican Thomas J. Sexton won the general election with 66.03% of the vote.
District 21A is in the southwest corner of the state. Incumbent Joe Schomacker (R) has been serving since 2011, and was re-elected with 83 percent of the vote.
District 22B is in the southwest of Minnesota, including parts of Blue Earth, Le Sueuer, Rice, and Scott Counties.[108] Incumbent Brian Pfarr (R) did not run for re-election.[27] Republican Terry Stier won the seat with 68.7% of the vote.
District 26A includes the college town of Winona, the towns Goodview and Stockton, and surrounding townships. The district was predcted as a potential flip for Republicans.[110] Longtime representative Gene Pelowski (DFL) did not seek re-election after his 19th term.[25] The seat showed one of the largest rightward shifts in the state, with Republican Aaron Repinski winning a seat that Pelowski had won by over 10 points.
Republican candidate Aaron Repinski, a Winona City Council member,[111] defeated DFL candidate Sarah Kruger, the chief of staff for FairVote Minnesota, after she had beaten Dwayne Voegeli, chair of the Winona County Board of Commissioners, in the primary.[55]
District 26B is located in the southeast corner of the state and includes the cities of La Crescent, Chatfield, Caledonia, Spring Valley and Rushford. Long-time incumbent representative Greg Davids (R) is running for re-election; he narrowly won his primary after having lost the Republican Party's endorsement to newcomer Gary Steuart.
District 28A includes parts of North Branch, Cambridge, and Isanti in Chisago and Isanti Counties in eastern Minnesota.[116] Incumbent representative Brian Johnson (R) lost the Republican primary to Isanti mayor Jimmy Gordon, who had won the GOP endorsement. Gordon took the seat with 68% of the vote.
District 30A is located in the northwestern metro and includes the cities of St. Michael, Otsego, and Albertville, and parts of Hennepin and Wright counties.[122][123] Incumbent Walter Hudson (R) won his re-election.
District 31B is in the northern Twin Cities metropolitan area, which includes the cities of Andover and East Bethel and parts of Anoka and Isanti counties. Incumbent Peggy Scott (R) is running for re-election.
District 32B includes the cities of Blaine and Lexington. Freshman representative Matt Norris (DFL) ran for reelection. Norris won his 2022 race by 413 votes.[131]
Norris’ Republican challenger Alex Moe ran for the state Senate in 2022 in Duluth. Moe worked in the Anoka County courts system.[132]
District 33B is in the easternmost part of the Twin Cities metro along the border with Wisconsin. It contains Stillwater, Bayport, Scandia, and Oak Park Heights.
District 34A includes Rogers, Dayton and Champlin. Incumbent Danny Nadeau won in 2022 by a significant margin and secured re-election in 2024. Nadeau is a contract manager with Hennepin County.[134]
Nadeau expanded his lead against DFL challenger, Brian Raines, who had lost to Nadeau by about seven percentage points in 2022. Raines works for the state's carpenters union.[135]
District 34B is in the north metro, mostly in Brooklyn Park, with pieces of Coon Rapids and Champlin. Incumbent Melissa Hortman (DFL) was first elected in 2010 and has served as Speaker of the Minnesota House since 2019.
District 35A includes Anoka and Coon Rapids. Incumbent Zack Stephenson (DFL) won re-election by 3.8 percentage points, a narrower margin than his 2022 victory by about five percentage points. Stephenson, who chairs the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee, is a prosecutor for Hennepin County.[55]
Josh Jungling was the Republican challenger. Jungling is the charitable gambling manager for the Anoka Ramsey Athletic Association.[136]
District 35B is in the northwest metro and includes Coon Rapids and Andover. Incumbent Jerry Newton (DFL) is retiring.[24]
DFL candidate Kari Rehrauer, a member of the Coon Rapids City Council and a teacher,[55] narrowly defeated Republican Steve Pape, a Navy veteran and CEO of an engineering consulting firm.[137]
District 36A is in the north metro and includes North Oaks, Lino Lakes and Circle Pines. Incumbent Elliott Engen (R), who won reelection, previously worked for a nonprofit environmental organization and is one of the state's youngest legislators.[55]
Engen defeated DFL challenger Janelle Calhoun, previously an executive director for a cancer research nonprofit.[55]
District 37A is located in the northwestern part of Hennepin County. Incumbent Kristin Robbins (R) was first elected in 2018 and took 56.11% of the vote in 2022.
District 38A is located in the northeast metro area and includes the cities of Brooklyn Park and Osseo. Huldah Hiltsley (DFL) defeated Brad Olson (R) in the general election.
The district is characterized by a diverse demographic breakdown: 38% White, 33% Black, 18% Asian, and 9% Hispanic. 27% of the population is foreign-born, predominantly from Africa.[2]Kenyan American Huldah Hiltsley defeated Liberian American Wynfred Russell in the DFL primary to succeed the retiring incumbent Michael Nelson (DFL).[23][140]
District 39B is directly northeast of Minneapolis and includes all of Saint Anthony and parts of Columbia Heights and New Brighton. Incumbent Sandra Feist has been in office since 2021.
District 40A is in the north metro, containing Arden Hills, Blaine, Mounds View, and parts of New Brighton and Shoreview. Incumbent Kelly Moller (DFL) has served since 2019. Moller ran unopposed.
Incumbent DFLer Jamie Becker-Finn declined to seek re-election. Fellow DFLer Curtis Johnson filed to run to succeed her, he was uncontested in the primary after another candidate, David Gottfried withdrew. Johnson defeated Republican Paul Wikstrom by a 29 point margin.
After the election Wikstrom alleged that Johnson did not meet state residency requirements, claiming that he primarily lived outside the district, in Little Canada, and rented a local apartment solely to run for office.[141] The district court judge in charge of the case ruled in favor of Wikstrom and invalidated Johnson's election certificate, leaving the seat vacant at the start of the session.[142] A special election was held on March 11, 2025. Gottfried, a DFL candidate who withdrew prior to the November election, defeated Republican Paul Wikstrom in the special election.[143]
District 41A includes Afton, Lake Elmo and Cottage Grove. Incumbent Mark Wiens (R) did not seek reelection.[30] In 2022, Wiens narrowly carried the district, while Tim Walz won by nearly five percentage points.[55] Republican Wayne Johnson won the seat by a margin just over 1%.
Lucia Wroblewski, a retired St. Paul police officer, was the DFL candidate. On her campaign site, Wroblewski said she was a use-of-force expert for 24 years and a field training officer for 22 years. She is also an Afton City Council member.[144]
The Republican Party endorsed Grayson McNew, a school voucher advocate backed by the Action 4 Liberty PAC, for the Republican primary.[145][146] McNew lost the primary election to the more moderate Republican candidate Wayne Johnson.
Candidates
Lucia Wroblewski (DFL), former St. Paul police officer[147]
The Republican candidate, Tom Dippel, a previous state Senate candidate, won the seat against Jen Fox, a Hastings City Council member and acting mayor of the city.[55] Dippel is another Action 4 Liberty-endorsed candidate and founded the Minnesota Dental Lab in Newport.[145]
District 42A is in the northwest metro area, composed of parts of Plymouth and Maple Grove. Incumbent Ned Carroll (DFL) was first elected in 2022 with 58% of the vote.
District 45A is located in the west metro and includes Minnetonka, Excelsior and Orono. Incumbent Andrew Myers (R), an attorney and small business owner, won his re-election against Tracey Breazeale (DFL), a Minnetonka Beach City Council member and former business executive.[55]
District 46A is fully located within Saint Louis Park, just west of Minneapolis.[151] Incumbent Larry Kraft (DFL) was first elected in 2022, when he ran unopposed.
District 46B is in the south metro, containing all of Hopkins and parts of Saint Louis Park and Edina. Incumbent Cheryl Youakim (DFL) has served since 2015 and ran unopposed in 2022.
District 47A in the east metro contains parts of Woodbury and Maplewood. Incumbent Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger was first elected in 2022 with 60.18% of the vote.
District 48A is located in Carver County in the southwest metro. Incumbent Jim Nash (R) was first elected in 2014; he defeated Nathan Kells (DFL) with 59.66% of the vote in 2022.
District 48B includes Chaska, Chanhassen and Shorewood. Incumbent Lucy Rehm (DFL) won reelection in a close race. Rehm is a former teacher and Chanhassen City Council member. In 2022, she won the election by 417 votes; in 2024, she won by 225.[55] Caleb Steffenhagen, an officer in the Minnesota Army National Guard and a teacher, was the GOP candidate.[153]
District 49A is located in the southwest metro and includes portions of Minnetonka and Eden Prairie. Incumbent Laurie Pryor (DFL) is retiring.[28]Alex Falconer, campaign manager for the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, defeated Minnetonka City Council member Kissy Coakley in the DFL primary and then defeated Stacy L. Bettison in the general election.[156]
District 50A is located in Edina and parts of Bloomington. Incumbent Heather Edelson (DFL) did not seek re-election as she was elected to the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners in a 2024 special election.[32] Democrat Julie Greene was elected with 64.57% of the vote.
District 51A is located in Richfield and the southeasternmost part of Minneapolis. Incumbent Michael Howard (DFL), a member since 2019, won his re-election with 73.4% of the vote.
District 52A covers parts of Eagan and Burnsville in Dakota County. Incumbent Liz Reyer was first elected in 2020 and won re-election by over 20 points.
District 52B is located in northern Dakota County, including parts of Eagan and Mendota Heights. Incumbent Bianca Virnig (DFL) was first elected by special election in December 2023 and was re-elected with 60.6% of the vote.
District 53A is located in Dakota County in the south metro, including much of Inver Grove Heights. Incumbent Mary Frances Clardy (DFL) was re-elected by a 15-point margin.
District 53B is located in the southeast metro, including parts of Dakota and Washington counties. Incumbent Rick Hansen (DFL) was first elected in 2004 and won re-election by 19 points.
Incumbent DFLer Brad Tabke ran for re-election. He defeated Republican police officer Aaron Paul by a close 0.06% margin. While Tabke had returned to office in 2022 by an 8-point margin, defeating representative Erik Mortensen, Republicans had hoped that running a more moderate Republican like Paul would give them a better chance of winning the seat.[159]
Initial results showed Tabke with a 14 vote lead, with a 0.06% margin.[160] Following the election, it was discovered that the voting machines had a ballot screening malfunction, necessitating thousands of ballots be re-scanned, this was followed by a full automatic recount as perscribed by law.[161] The recount extended Tabke's lead by one vote.[162][39] Additionally 21 absentee ballots had gone missing on election day, which prompted legal challenges from Republicans.[163][7] The Scott County Attorney's investigation showed that those ballots were likely in-person early votes, thrown out in error on the first day of absentee ballot counting.[6] In response to the discrepancy, Paul called for a new election to be held entirely, while requesting that the courts find that Scott County election officials had violated the law.[164] Eventually, twelve absentee ballots were matched to the voters who had cast them and at the trial in December, six voters testified that they had voted for Tabke, while six testified they had voted for Paul.[165] On the first day of session, the judge ruled in favor of Tabke, denying Paul's request for a special election.[8]
District 55A contains the city of Savage and part of Burnsville, in the south Twin Cities metropolitan area. Incumbent Jessica Hanson (DFL), first elected in 2020, was re-elected by a 7-point margin.
District 56B is located in the north of Dakota County. Incumbent John Huot (DFL) has served since 2019 and won his re-election with 55.97% of the vote.
District 57A is located in Scott and Dakota counties, including portions of Lakeville. Incumbent Jon Koznick has served since 2015 and won re-election with 62.55% of the vote.
District 58A is located in Scott, Rice, and Dakota counties, including the city of Northfield. Incumbent Kristi Pursell (DFL) won her first re-election, receiving 52.43% of the vote, a decreasing from her 54.48% victory in 2022.[170]
District 58B is located in the southeastern part of the Twin Cities metro. It includes portions of Dakota County. The district covers the cities of Farmington and portions of Lakeville. Incumbent Pat Garofalo (R) did not seek re-election.[33] Republican Drew Roach won the seat by a 19-point margin.
District 59A covers Camden and parts of Near North in north Minneapolis.[172] Incumbent Fue Lee (DFL) is running unopposed. He was first elected in 2016 and won his second consecutive unopposed race[170] at 97.93%.
District 59B is located in Near North, Central, and parts of the East Bank neighborhood in Minneapolis .[174] Incumbent Esther Agbaje was first elected in 2020 and ran unopposed in 2022.[170] She was re-elected with 82.34% of the vote.
District 60A is located in Northeast Minneapolis.[175] Incumbent Sydney Jordan (DFL), who was first elected in a 2020 special election, is running for re-election. Jordan was elected with 84.59% of the vote.
Candidates for endorsement at the SD61 DFL convention, left to right: Trevor Turner, Isabel Rolfes, Katie Jones, Dylan McMahon, Jared Brewington, and Will Stancil
District 61A was the only contested DFL primary for a House seat in Minneapolis or Saint Paul. The primary drew attention for its online activity: candidate Will Stancil, known for his Twitter presence, attracted the attention of media and of right-wing extremists who made threats to multiple candidates.[177][178]
Katie Jones, an engineer, first won the DFL primary over attorney Will Stancil and legislative aide Isabel Rolfes, then won the seat over Green Party candidate Toya López with 83.92% of the vote.
District 61B is located in southwestMinneapolis.[189] Incumbent Jamie Long (DFL), the house majority leader, won his re-election with 89.09% of the vote. Long was first elected in 2018 and ran unopposed in 2022.[170]
District 62B is located in South Minneapolis, comprising much of Phillips and Powderhorn.[192] Incumbent Hodan Hassan (DFL), first elected in 2018, is retiring.[18] In 2022, Hassan was re-elected with 90.28% of the vote.[170]
Anquam Mahamoud (DFL) defeated Republican Bob Sullentrop, winning 87.23% of the vote. Mahamoud is the former COO of Twin Cities Health Services, a mental health and substance use treatment center in the Twin Cities. The center filed for bankruptcy on June 17, 2024, citing over $3 million in debts, including $721,000 to the IRS and over $39,000 to the Minnesota Department of Revenue, and had its license revoked for licensing violations prior to Mahamoud's tenure as COO. Mahamoud served as COO from October 2023 to April 2024.[193]
District 64A is located in western Saint Paul, mostly in Union Park and Mac-Groveland.[215] Incumbent Kaohly Vang Her (DFL), first elected in 2018, won re-election with 83.17% of the vote.
District 64B is located in southwestern Saint Paul, mostly in Highland Park.[216] Incumbent Dave Pinto (DFL) was first elected in 2014 and won the 2024 election with 80.1% of the vote.[170]
District 66B is located in north central Saint Paul.[222] Incumbent Athena Hollins (DFL), first elected in 2020, was re-elected with 76.12% of the vote.
District 67B is located in the easternmost part of Saint Paul.[227] Incumbent Jay Xiong (DFL), first elected in 2018, received 75.17% of votes in 2022.[170] Xiong was re-elected with 74.70% of the vote.
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