By MMBA Lobbyist Sarah Pisick
After months of campaigning, television ads, mail pieces, debates, door-knocking and interviews, Minnesotans went to the polls and voted.
Overall, not much changed in the political landscape - all four Constitutional offices remained in DFL hands, the split in Minnesota's Congressional seats between Republican and DFL did not change, Minnesota's Governor and US Senate seat stayed with incumbents, and the Minnesota Senate was not up for re-election thus remaining under DFL control.
The one place where the electorate made a change was in the Minnesota House where the Republicans won eleven seats and took the majority from the DFL.
The following is a look at the results of the election.
All results are compiled from the Secretary of State, but are "unofficial" until certified by the state canvassing board which is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, November 25
Analysis
After two-years of one-party control in Minnesota state government, the electorate decided to go back to divided party control.
Will that mean compromise on issues related to the budget and policy, or will it mean gridlock and a special session or even a possible government shut-down?
Following are some note-worthy items from the election:
- In 2012, no DFL incumbent seeking re-election in the House lost their race. In 2014, no Republican incumbent lost their seat and 11 DFL incumbents lost their re-election bid.
- Suburbs vs Rural Minnesota: The battle for the Minnesota House was clearly played out in the suburbs and rural Minnesota this election. Despite heavy spending by candidates, political parties and outside groups, the DFL only lost one legislative seat in the metropolitan area (Lakeville/Burnsville). However, the reverse was true in rural Minnesota where Republicans successfully defeated 10 DFL incumbents and picked-up enough seats to gain the majority in the Minnesota House.
- Siblings: A brother and sister pair will be serving in the Minnesota House for the next two years. Rep. Marion O'Neill (Republican, Buffalo) will be joined by her brother, Brian Daniels (Republican, Faribault) who defeated Rep. Patti Fritz.
- Recount: While several House races were not decided until the early morning hours, it appears that only one match-up will result in a recount. Rep. Yvonne Selcer (DFL, Eden Prairie) has defeated challenger Kirk Stensrud (Republican) by 36 votes; a difference of 0.19%. The state will pay for an automatic recount if the race is closer than one-half of one percent. In St. Cloud, challenger Jim Knoblach (Republican) defeated Rep. Zach Dorholt by 69 votes with a vote difference of 0.61%. In 2012, 17,766 votes were cast and Rep. Dorholt won by 56.2%; and in 2014 only 11,279 votes were cast.
- Re-matches: 23 House races were re-matches of the 2012 election pitting the same DFL and Republican candidates against each other. In only three of these races did the challenger succeed in the second attempt.
- Rep. Jim Knoblach (Republican, St. Could) returns to the House after having served from 1994-2006 before retiring from the Legislature. During his previous tenure, Rep. Knoblach served as Chair of the Ways and Means Committee for four years and Chair of the Capital Investment Committee for four years.
- The new Republican majority in the House is comprised of 34 members from the metropolitan area and 38 members from Greater Minnesota. A majority of the majority is from outside the metropolitan area which will be an interesting dynamic as the priorities are set for the next session.
- Voter Turnout: Unofficial voter turnout for the 2014 election is estimated by the Secretary of State at just over 50 percent. Minnesota has traditionally been known for its high voter turnout. However, this estimate is below the 2010 turnout of 55.81 percent and 2006 turnout of 60.47 percent.
- Dayton Administration: Watch for possible changes in the Dayton Administration prior to the start of the 2015 session. After having served four years, there is often a change in many of the top commissioner positions in state agencies and other appointed positions following an election.
Minnesota House of Representatives
For the past two years, Minnesota state government was controlled by one-party with Mark Dayton (DFL) in the Governor's office and DFL majorities in the Minnesota House of Representatives and Minnesota Senate. Battle for the control of the Minnesota House emerged as the biggest drama of the election as Republican's campaigned on the theme of restoring balance to Minnesota. Going into election night, the DFL held a 73-61 margin in the House. Republicans needed to win seven seats in order to flip control of the House. Top targeted legislative seats were mainly in rural areas and key suburban districts. At the end of the night, Republicans picked up 11 seats (10 in rural Minnesota and one in the suburbs), no Republican incumbent was defeated and the Republicans captured a 72-62 majority.
Pre-Election Post Election
Republican 61 72
DFL 73 62
House districts with Republican victories over DFL incumbents are:
District 2A (Baudette) - Dave Hancock (R) defeated Roger Erickson (DFL)
District 10A (Brainerd) - Joshua Heintzeman (R) defeated John Ward (DFL)
District 10B (Crosby) - Dale Lueck (R) defeated Joe Radinovich (DFL)
District 11B (Hinckley) - Jason Rarick (R) defeated Tim Faust (DFL)
District 12A (Elbow Lake) - Jeff Backer (R) defeated Jay McNamar (DFL)
District 14B (St. Cloud) - Jim Knoblach (R) defeated Zach Dorholt (DFL)
District 17A (Murdock) - Tim Miller (R) defeated Andrew Falk (DFL)
District 17B (Willmar) - Dave Baker (R) defeated Mary Sawatzky (DFL)
District 24B (Faribault) - Brian Daniels (R) defeated Patti Fritz (DFL)
District 27A (Wells) - Peggy Bennett (R) defeated Shannon Savick(DFL)
District 56B (Lakeville) - Roz Peterson (R) defeated Will Morgan (DFL)
In addition, 15 districts have new representation due to the retirement of an incumbent legislator:
District 7A (Duluth) - Jennifer Schultz (DFL)
District 19B (Mankato) - Jack Considine (DFL)
District 20A (Belle Plaine) - Bob Vogel (R)
District 26B (Rochester) - Nels Pierson (R)
District 30B (Albertville) - Eric Lucera (R)
District 34B (Maple Grove) - Dennis Smith (R)
District 35A (Anoka) - Abigail Whelan (R)
District 44B (Minnetonka) - Jon Applebaum (DFL)
District 46B (Hopkins) - Cheryl Yoakim (DFL)
District 47A (Waconia) - Jim Nash (R)
District 53B (Woodbury) - Kelly Fenton (R)
District 55A (Savage) - Bob Loonan (R)
District 56A (Burnsville) - Drew Christensen (R)
District 58A (Lakeville) - Jon Koznick (R)
District 64B (St. Paul) - Dave Pinto (DFL)
In the near future, the House Republican caucus will meet to elect a new Speaker of the House. It is anticipated that Minority Leader Kurt Daudt will seek that position and likely be elected the new Speaker. The Republicans will also elect a member to serve as the House Majority Leader. Following these elections, the new leadership will assemble the committee structure and name committee chairs. The House DFL will also meet to elect a Minority Leader.
Minnesota Senate
The Minnesota Senate was not up for election as state Senators serve a four-year term. Thus, the DFL will maintain a 39-28 majority over Republicans in that body. It is anticipated that Senator Tom Bakk will remain the Senate Majority Leader and Senator David Hann the Senate Minority Leader. Due to the construction of the Capitol, some changes may be made to the committee structure related to membership and meeting times.
Minnesota Statewide Constitutional Offices
The DFL swept all of Minnesota's statewide constitutional offices in the 2014 elections. Incumbent Governor Mark Dayton (DFL) selected a new Lt. Governor, Tina Smith and former State Representative Steve Simon (DFL) won the open Secretary of State seat following the retirement of Mark Ritchie. With Governor Mark Dayton winning with 50.06% of the vote, it is the first time since Arne Carlson won in 1994 that a governor candidate has won with over 50% of the vote.
The following are the results for the statewide constitutional offices:
Governor Total Percent of Vote
Mark Dayton and
Tina Smith (DFL)
989,073 50.06%
Jeff Johnson and
Bill Kuisle (Republican)
879,528 44.52%
Hannah Nicollet and
Tim Gieseke (Independence)
56,901 2.88%
Attorney General Total Percent of Vote
Lori Swanson (DFL)
1,014,710 52.59%
Scott Newman (Republican)
752,837 39.02%
Brandan Borgos (Independence)
44,626 2.31%
Secretary of State Total Percent of Vote
Steve Simon (DFL)
901,399 47.03%
Dan Severson (Republican)
879,374 45.88%
Bob Helland (Independence)
94,045 4.91%
State Auditor Total Percent of Vote
Rebecca Otto (DFL)
988,126 51.51%
Randy Gilbert (Republican)
767,098 39.99%
Patrick Dean (Independence)
76,837 4.01%
U.S. Senate
Senator Al Franken was re-elected by defeating a challenge from Republican Mike McFadden. Sen. Franken's large margin of victory was a stark contrast to the race in 2008 against former Republican Senator Norm Coleman where he won by a thin 312 vote margin following an eight-month re-count.
U.S. Senate Total Percent of Vote
Al Franken (DFL)
1,053,153 53.14%
Mike McFadden (Republican)
850,504 42.92%
Steve Carlson (Independence)
47,544 2.40%
Independence Party
Minnesota's Independence party has been one of the strongest in the nation having elected one of the few third-party governors, Jesse Ventura. However, it appears that the Independence party has lost its major-party status with no statewide Independence party candidate getting at least five percent of the vote. Should the current results stand following the certification by the state canvassing board, the party will descend to minor party status on December 31, 2014. Losing major party status means the party will lose the right to have election judges and challengers in polling places and will now have to file nominating petitions to be on the general election ballot. Also, minor party candidates often are not invited to participate in debates for Governor and other statewide offices. There will not be another statewide race on the ballot until 2018.
Minnesota Congressional Delegation
The overall mix of Minnesota's Congressional delegation will not be changing when Congress returns to Washington, DC. Despite having two of the most highly contested races in the nation in the 7th and 8th Congressional districts, the incumbents succeeded in winning re-election in these seats. Only one new member of Congress will be from Minnesota and that is Republican Tom Emmer who won the 6th Congressional district following the retirement of Michelle Bachman.
The following are the results for the Congressional seats:
U.S. District 1 Total Percent of Vote
Tim Walz (DFL)
122,641 54.19%
Jim Hagedorn (Republican)
103,356 45.67%
U.S. District 2 Total Percent of Vote
John Kline (Republican)
137,781 56.04%
Mike Obermueller (DFL)
95,562 38.87%
U.S. District 3 Total Percent of Vote
Erik Paulsen (Republican)
167,516 62.14%
Sharon Sund (DFL)
101,845 37.78%
U.S. District 4 Total Percent of Vote
Betty McCollum (DFL)
147,842 61.19%
Sharna Wahlgren (Republican)
79,482 32.90%
U.S. District 5 Total Percent of Vote
Keith Ellison (DFL)
167,079 70.79%
Doug Daggett (Republican)
56,577 23.97%
U.S. District 6 Total Percent of Vote
Tom Emmer (Republican)
133,324 56.29%
Joe Perske (DFL)
90,921 38.39%
U.S. District 7 Total Percent of Vote
Collin Peterson (DFL)
130,539 54.21%
Torrey Westrom (Republican)
109,952 45.66%
U.S. District 8 Total Percent of Vote
Rick Nolan (DFL)
128,869 48.50%
Stewart Mills (Republican)
125,201 47.12%
