Minnesota Senate, District 65

Minnesota's 65th State Senate district
Senator	Sandy Pappas DFL – Saint Paul since January 8, 1991
Demographics	49.1%  White 18.8%  Black 9.6%  Hispanic 13.6%  Asian 1.4%  Native American 3.9% Other 3.6%  Multiracial
Population (2020)	68,387

The 65th district of the Minnesota Senate encompasses the centre of Minnesota's State Capital, and the county seat of Ramsey, Saint Paul, including St. Paul Downtown Airport. ^[1] It has formerly included Clearwater, Pennington, Red Lake, Mahomen, Norman, Becker, and Hubbard, counties. The district is currently served by Democratic-Farmer-Labor Senator Sandy Pappas, former president of the Senate. ^[2]

List of senators

Session	Image	Senator	Party	Term start	Term end	Home	Counties represented
39th		Daniel P. O'Neill [3]	Nonpartisan Election	January 4, 1915	January 5, 1919	Thief River Falls	Clearwater, Pennington and Red Lake
40th
41st		Oscar Albert Naplin [4]		January 6, 1919	December 31, 1922
42nd
43rd		C. L. Hansen [5]		January 1, 1923	January 2, 1927
44th
45th		Laura Emelia Naplin [6]	Nonpartisan Election-Liberal Caucus	February 15, 1927	January 6, 1935
46th
47th
48th
49th		E. L. Tungseth [7]	Nonpartisan Election	January 7, 1935	January 3, 1943
50th
51st
52nd
53rd		William E. Dahlquist [8]		January 4, 1943	January 2, 1955
54th
55th
56th
57th			Nonpartisan Election - Conservative Caucus
58th
59th		Roy Edwin Wiseth [9]	Nonpartisan Election-Liberal Caucus	January 3, 1955	January 6, 1963	Goodridge
60th
61st
62nd
63rd		Norman J. Larson [10]	Nonpartisan Election - Conservative Caucus	January 7, 1963	January 1, 1967	Ada	Clearwater, Mahnomen and Norman
64th
65th		Robert V. Leiseth [11]		January 2, 1967	January 3, 1971	Detroit Lakes	Becker, Clearwater, Hubbard County and Mahnomen
66th
67th		Gerald L. Willet [12]	Nonpartisan Election-Liberal Caucus	January 4, 1971	December 31, 1972	Park Rapids
68th		Nicholas D. Coleman [13]	Nonpartisan Election - Democratic-Farmer-Labor Caucus	January 1, 1973	January 4, 1981	Saint Paul	Ramsey
69th
70th			Democratic-Farmer-Labor
71st
72nd		Donald M. Moe [14]		January 5, 1981	January 6, 1991
73rd
74th
75th
76th
78th		Sandy Pappas [15]		January 7, 1991	Incumbent
79th
80th
81st
82nd
83rd
84th
86th
88th
90th
91st
92nd
93rd
94th

Recent elections

2022

The candidate filing deadline was May 31, 2022. The general election was held on November 8, 2022, resulting in Pappas' victory. ^[16]

2022 Minnesota Senate election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic (DFL)	Sandy Pappas	20,228	80.1
	Republican	Paul Holmgren	4,960	19.5
	Write-in	N/A	58	0.2
Total votes			25,246	100.0
	Democratic (DFL) hold

2020

The candidate filing deadline was June 6, 2020. The general election was held on November 3, 2020, resulting in Pappas' victory. ^[17]

2020 Minnesota Senate election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic (DFL)	Sandy Pappas	31,552	81.5
	Republican	Paul Holmgren	7,064	18.2
	Write-in	N/A	113	0.3
Total votes			38,729	100.0
	Democratic (DFL) hold

2016

The candidate filing deadline was May 31, 2016. The general election was held on November 8, 2016, resulting in Pappas' victory. ^[18]

Minnesota State Senate election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic (DFL)	Sandy Pappas	27,743	81.1
	Republican	Jason Delmont	6,497	18.9
Total votes			34,222	100.0
	Democratic (DFL) hold

2012

Elections for the Minnesota State Senate occurred after state-wide redistricting from 2010. The signature-filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 5, 2012. Susan Pappas defeated Rick Karschnia in the general election. ^[19]

Minnesota State Senate election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic (DFL)	Sandy Pappas	27,365	82
	Republican	Rick Karschnia	5,998	18
Total votes			33,363	100.0
	hold

References

1. "Minnesota State Senate District 65 - Ballotpedia" . Retrieved April 27, 2025.
2. "Minnesota Senate". Minnesota Senate. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
3. "O'Neill, Daniel P. "D.P."". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
4. "Naplin, Oscar Albert "O.A."". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
5. "Hansen, C. L." Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
6. "Naplin, Laura Emelia". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
7. "Tungseth, E. L." Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
8. "Dahlquist, William E." Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
9. "Wiseth, Roy Edwin". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
10. "Larson, Norman J." Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
11. "Leiseth, Robert V. "Bob"". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
12. "Willet, Gerald L. "Jerry"". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
13. "Coleman, Nicholas D. "Nick"". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
14. "Moe, Donald M. "Don"". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
15. "Pappas, Sandra L. "Sandy"". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
16. "Minnesota State Senate District 65 - Ballotpedia" . Retrieved October 30, 2018.
17. "Minnesota State Senate District 65 - Ballotpedia" . Retrieved October 30, 2018.
18. "Minnesota State Senate District 65 - Ballotpedia" . Retrieved October 30, 2018.
19. "Minnesota State Senate District 65 - Ballotpedia" . Retrieved October 30, 2018.