Minnesota Returns to Divided State Government

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Despite convincing DFL wins in all contested statewide offices and in two heavily contested Congressional seats, the DFL Party was unable to retain control of the Minnesota House of Representatives. U.S. Senator Al Franken and Governor Mark Dayton won convincing victories, but the Minnesota House will be controlled by Republicans by a 72 to 62 margin.

Dayton Re-elected

Withstanding a last-minute barrage of negative ads from challenger Jeff Johnson, Governor Mark Dayton was able to pull out a five percentage point victory. In particular, the Republican Party of Minnesota spent heavily on a radio ad in the last week of the campaign questioning Dayton’s ability to handle an Ebola crisis in Minnesota. Dayton’s running-mate for Lieutenant Governor was first-time candidate and former Dayton Chief-of-Staff, Tina Smith. Her role in Dayton’s next term is yet to be defined but will, no doubt, be significant.

Changes in the Governor’s Cabinet for the second term are possible although most Commissioners are expected to return.

Minnesota House of Representatives Flips to Republicans

Despite the strong statewide success of the DFL Party, Republicans were able to pick up 11 seats in the Minnesota House to gain a gain a 72 to 62 majority. Of those 11 seats, ten were in rural Minnesota. Incumbent DFLers who were defeated include Reps. Roger Erickson, John Ward, Joe Radinovich, Tim Faust, Jay McNamar, Zach Dorholt, Andrew Falk, Mary Sawatzky, Patti Fritz, Shannon Savick and Will Morgan. Recounts are possible in several close races but will not change Republican control.

The House DFL and Republican Caucuses will meet later this week to select their leadership for the next session of the Legislature. Republican Minority Leader Kurt Daudt will be a candidate for Speaker of the House but could be challenged by Representatives Rod Hamilton, Matt Dean, or Sarah Anderson. Potential candidates for Majority Leader include Reps. Jen Loon and Tim Sanders. Current Speaker Paul Thissen and current DFL Majority Leader Erin Murphy will likely face off in a contest to lead the House DFL Caucus.

The DFL retains its 39 to 28 majority in the Minnesota Senate.

Other Statewide Offices

The DFL retained its control of the other State Constitutional Offices with Attorney General Lori Swanson and State Auditor Rebecca Otto comfortably winning re-election. Representative Steve Simon defeated former legislator Dan Severson in the closest of the statewide races. Simon will succeed retiring Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.

Franken Re-elected to U.S. Senate

Unlike his narrow 312 vote win over former Senator Norm Coleman in 2008, Senator Al Franken cruised to an easy 53% to 43% victory over businessman Mike McFadden. McFadden never really made the contest close with Franken holding onto a double-digit lead for most of the campaign. Franken joins Minnesota’s other DFL Senator, Amy Klobuchar.

No Upsets in Congressional Races

Despite heavy spending by outside interest groups, Eighth District Congressman DFL Rick Nolan and Seventh District Congressman DFL Collin Peterson each won re-election. Republicans were particularly hopeful of picking off Nolan with their candidate, businessman Stewart Mills. State Senator Torrey Westrom challenged Peterson, but ended up losing 54% to 46%. In the race to succeed Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in the Sixth District, former Republican State Legislator Tom Emmer defeated Sartell Mayor Joe Perske by 56% to 38%.

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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