Following yesterday’s election, the Minnesota House is currently sitting with a majority tie of 67 Republicans to 67 Democrats. There are two races that are subject to mandatory recounts, in District 14B, Rep. Dan Wolgamott (DFL) won by 28 votes and in District 54A, Rep. Brad Tabke (DFL) won by 13 votes. If either of those races flip, the Republicans will take control of the House. Rep. Jeff Brand (DFL, 18A) was the only incumbent to lose their bid for reelection.
So what does a tie mean? There is only one other time in our history that the MN House has been tied, you can read about that here and get a glimpse of what we may be in store for this upcoming legislative session.
The Minnesota Senate was not on the ballot this year, however, there was an open seat in District 45 due to the resignation of Sen. Kelly Morrison (DFL) to run for Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional seat. The DFL held a one-seat majority in the Senate, making this race the determining race for control of the Senate. Former Senator Anne Johnson-Steward (DFL) won the race and the DFL will maintain their 35-34 majority.
On the national level, former President Donald Trump has won the presidency, the Senate has flipped to Republican control and control of the House has not been determined. In Minnesota, Senator Amy Klobuchar was easily re-elected, and all incumbent congressional members won their races. Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District was the only open seat, vacated by the retirement of Congressman Dean Phillips (DFL). Former Senator Kelly Morrison (DFL) won that race, beating Tad Jude 58%-42%.
On November 20th at 2:00 pm I will be joined by our contract lobbyist, Zack Eichten with Taft Advisors to provide a virtual training session that will give a more in-depth look at the election results and what it all means for the upcoming legislative session and ARRM’s legislative priorities. For more information on how you can register for that event click here.
Please reach out with any questions.
--Sara Grafstrom, Senior Director of State and Federal Policy