The 2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the

U.S. presidential election The election of the president and vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not directl ...

as well as other elections to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

and

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

as well as various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic–Farmer–Labor U.S. Senator

Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member o ...

faced Republican State Representative

Kurt Bills Kurt Patrick Bills (born January 8, 1970) is an American educator and former politician. He has taught and coached high school since 1994. He served on the Rosemount City Council from 2008 to 2010. He then served in the Minnesota House of Represe ...

. Klobuchar was reelected in a landslide, defeating Bills by a greater than 2-to-1 margin and carrying all but two of the state's 87 counties by double digits, only narrowly losing the counties of Pipestone and

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

in the state's southwest corner. This election marked the first time since

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

that an incumbent Democratic senator was re-elected and the first time since

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

that an incumbent Democratic senator was re-elected to this seat.

Background

Incumbent

was first elected in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

to succeed the retiring DFL incumbent

Mark Dayton Mark Brandt Dayton (born January 26, 1947) is an American politician who served as the List of governors of Minnesota, 40th governor of Minnesota from 2011 to 2019. He served as a United States Senate, United States Senator representing Minneso ...

. She beat Republican nominee Mark Kennedy, 58% to 38%. Klobuchar served as Minnesota's only senator between January 3 and July 7, 2009, due to the contested results of Minnesota's senatorial election held the previous year, finally decided in favor of DFLer

Al Franken Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American politician, comedian, and actor who served from 2009 to 2018 as a United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he worked as an ...

DFL primary

The

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The party was formed by a merger between the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Minneso ...

held its Senate primary on August 14, 2012.

Candidates

Declared

* Dick Franson, perennial candidate *

, incumbent U.S. Senator * Jack Shepard, dentist, convicted felon, fugitive and perennial candidate * Darryl Stanton

Results

Republican primary

The

Republican Party of Minnesota The Republican Party of Minnesota is the state affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in Minnesota and the oldest active political party in the state. Founded in 1855, the party is headquartered in Edina, Minnesota, E ...

held its nominating convention in May 2012 and held its Senate primary on August 14, 2012.

Candidates

Declared

, state representative; won May 2012 convention nomination * David Carlson, former Marine Corps sergeant; candidate in August 2012 primary * Bob Carney Jr., inventor, independent businessman; finished 2nd in 2010 GOP primary for Governor of Minnesota, candidate in August 2012 primary

Withdrew

* Joe Arwood, St. Bonifacius city councilman; withdrew before May 2012 convention *

Pete Hegseth Peter Brian Hegseth (born June 6, 1980) is an American author, former television presenter, and former Army National Guard officer who has served as the 29th United States secretary of defense since 2025. Hegseth studied politics at Princeton ...

, executive director of Vets for Freedom; withdrew after May 2012 convention * Anthony Hernandez, former state senate candidate; withdrew before May 2012 convention to run for Congress against

Betty McCollum Betty Louise McCollum ( ; born July 12, 1954) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving since 2001. She is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). McCollum's district centers on St. Paul, Minnesot ...

Dan Severson Daniel Mark Severson (born August 31, 1954) is a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives who represented District 14A, which includes portions of Benton County, Minnesota, Benton and Stearns County, Minnesota, Stearns counties in ...

, former state representative; withdrew after May 2012 convention

Results

Independence primary

Campaign

The

Independence Party of Minnesota The Independence—Alliance Party, a merger of the Alliance Party and the Independence Party, formerly the Reform Party of Minnesota (1996–2000), is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was the party of former Minnesota governo ...

did not plan to run a candidate in the general election. Party chairman Mark Jenkins said in November 2011 that he saw the Senate election as "a distraction from having our best and brightest engaged in state legislative races". At the party's convention in June 2012, neither candidate was endorsed. Williams won a majority of the votes and came within two votes of the required 60% needed for the party's endorsement. He proceeded with his run for the Senate but the party focused its attention on state legislative races.

Candidates

* Stephen Williams, farmer and Independence Party endorsed candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2008 * Glen R. Anderson Menze, accountant and Republican nominee in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and Independence Party nominee in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

for the 7th congressional district

Results

General election

Candidates

(DFL), incumbent U.S. Senator *

(Republican), State Representative
Stephen Williams
(Independence), Farmer * Michael Cavlan, (Minnesota Open Progressives) Registered Nurse * Tim Davis, (Grassroots), Environmental Activist

Debates

On August 29 Klobuchar and Bills held their second debate at the State Fair, sponsored by MPR News. Their third debate, on September 16 in Duluth, was about the nation's struggle with deficit spending and unemployment. The audience was assembled by the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce and Duluth News Tribune. External links
Complete video
at Minnesota Public Radio, second debate, August 29, 2012
Audio
from Minnesota Public Radio, third debate, September 18, 2012

Fundraising

Top contributors

This section lists the top contributors by employer. These organizations themselves didn't donate, but these numbers include donations from their PACs, members, employees, owners, and their immediate families.

Top industries

Predictions

Polling

Republican primary
General election

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Carver (Largest city: Chaska) *

Redwood Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...

(largest city:

Redwood Falls Redwood Falls is a city in Redwood County, located along the Redwood River near its confluence with the Minnesota River, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 5,102 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat. History As the immig ...

) *

Wright Wright is an occupational surname originating in England and Scotland. The term 'Wright' comes from the circa 700 AD Old English word 'wryhta' or 'wyrhta', meaning worker or shaper of wood. Later it became any occupational worker (for example, a ...

(Largest city: Otsego) * Sherburne (Largest city: Elk River) * Otter Tail (Largest city:

Fergus Falls Fergus Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,119 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 14,258 in 2024. History The falls from which the city gets part of its n ...

) * Wadena (Largest city: Wadena)

By congressional district

Klobuchar won all eight congressional districts, including three held by Republicans.

References

External links

Election Center
from the Minnesota Secretary of State
Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector and ...

Outside spending
at the

Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States ...

Candidate issue positions
at

On the Issues On the Issues or OnTheIssues is an American non-partisan, non-profit organization providing information to American voters on American candidates, primarily via their website. The organization was started in 1996, went non-profit in 2000, and is ...

U.S. Senate election coverage
at

Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, KNOW-FM, News & Information, KSJN, YourClassical MPR and KCMP, The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper ...

Official campaign websites (Archived)
Kurt Bills for U.S. Senate

Amy Klobuchar for U.S. Senate

Stephen Williams for U.S. Senate
{{2012 United States elections

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

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 ...

Amy Klobuchar Pete Hegseth

Background

DFL primary

Candidates

Declared

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Results

Independence primary

Campaign

Candidates

Results

General election

Candidates

Debates

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

See also

References

External links