The 2020 Minnesota Senate election was held in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

on November 3, 2020, to elect members to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the 92nd Minnesota Legislature. A primary election was held in several districts on August 11, 2020. The election coincided with the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

of the other house of the

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, the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, and other elections.

Background

The last election in 2016 resulted in the

Republican Party of Minnesota The Republican Party of Minnesota is the oldest active political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Minnesota Republican Party’s platform is relatively moderate. The party’s main issues are economic growth, education, healthcare, civi ...

winning a majority of seats, after losing a majority to the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is the Minnesota affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party. As of 2022, it controls four of Minnesota's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, the Minnesota House of Represen ...

(DFL) only four years earlier in the previous election in 2012. In conjunction with the result of the House election, it also resulted in the return of all-Republican control of the Legislature for the first time since 2012 and only the second time Republicans have had majorities in both houses since the return of partisan elections to the Senate in 1976. Control of the Senate has alternated between the Republicans and the DFL every election since

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. All-Republican control of the Legislature ended when the DFL won a majority in the House in

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. A

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

was held for District 11 on February 5, 2019, as a result of the resignation of incumbent DFL Senator

Tony Lourey Tony Lourey (born August 15, 1967) is an American politician. He is a former Minnesota commissioner of human services and former Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) member of the Minnesota Senate, representing District 11. Early life, education, ...

after he was selected to be the next commissioner of human services by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

-elect

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz ( ; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician and retired educator. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019. Born in West Point, Nebraska, Walz ...

in early January 2019. Republican State Representative Jason Rarick won the special election, increasing the Republican majority to 35 seats. In October 2020, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' identified this state election as one of eight whose outcomes could affect partisan balance during post-

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redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

Electoral system

The 67 members of the Senate were elected from

single-member district A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vo ...

s via

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

for two-year terms. Contested nominations of recognized major parties ( DFL, Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis,

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, and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

) for each district were determined by an open primary election. Minor party candidates were nominated by petition.

Write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

s must have filed a request with the secretary of state's office for votes for them to be counted. The filing period was from May 19 to June 2, 2020.

Retiring members

Republican

* Paul Anderson, 44th * Scott Jensen, 47th

DFL

* Carolyn Laine, 41st * Dick Cohen, 64th

Primary elections results

A primary election was held on August 11 in 16 districts to nominate Republican and DFL candidates. Four Republican nominations and 13 DFL nominations were contested. Nine incumbents were opposed for their party's nomination. DFL incumbents Erik Simonson in District 7 and

Jeff Hayden Jeffrey D. Hayden (born September 24, 1966) is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he represented District 62, which includes portions of south Minn ...

in District 62 were not renominated.

Predictions

Results

Close races

Districts where the margin of victory was under 10%: #District 14, 0.8% (gain) #District 34, 1.56% #District 26, 1.76% #District 25, 2.53% #District 27, 4.5% (gain) #District 38, 4.15% #District 37, 4.25% #District 54, 5.83% #District 39, 6.02% #District 56, 6.12% (gain) #District 33, 8% #District 53, 8.26% #District 58, 9.08% (gain) #District 4, 9.16% #District 3, 9.51%

District results

Seats changing parties

Post-election changes

On November 18, 2020, longtime DFL senators Thomas M. Bakk and David Tomassoni announced they would be leaving the DFL party and form their own "Independent Caucus" in the state senate. Majority Leader Paul Gazelka welcomed the move and promised to give both senators chairmanships on "prominent committees". This changes the senate composition to 34 Republicans, 31 Democrats, and two independents.

Notes

References

External links

Elections & Voting - Minnesota Secretary of State
{{2020 United States elections

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are hel ...

Minnesota Senate elections