Minnesota votes

This Presidential election, Minnesota saw an expected decrease in early voting from a Covid-19 peak, with 1.272 million ballots accepted compared to 1.910 million in 2020. Both figures represented a huge increase over 2016, when early votes totaled just 677,000. A change in elections law that went into effect this year—which allowed mailed ballots to be returned by 8 pm rather than 5 pm—caused widespread delays in tallying overnight. Several counties didn’t report their votes until the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

Our next President

It’ll be another four years of President Donald Trump, say the voters, with most news outlets calling the race for our 45th President. Minnesota remained blue at the Presidential level, hovering just under 51% for Vice President Kamala Harris, and failing to deliver a big, blue “Walz effect.” Early analysis shows that Republican counties had higher turnout than last presidential election, while DFL counties had lower turnout.

Minnesota House of Representatives – Tied

Not to be outdone by the top of the ticket, the state House saw three DFL seats flip to GOP control, resulting in a tie of 67-67. However, two races that are currently DFL wins are so close (13 and 28 vote margins) that they will undergo publicly funded recounts in the coming weeks. The GOP’s chance at a majority hangs in the balance of flipping one of the two recounts in Rep. Brad Tabke’s Shakopee-area district and Rep. Dan Wolgamott’s St. Cloud district. If the House remains tied, DFL and Republican leadership will have to negotiate how to organize the body. This has only happened one prior time in Minnesota’s history (in 1979), and it was messy. Session Daily, a publication by the Minnesota House of Representatives, wrote a story about it a few years ago. It’s worth reading if you are interested: https://www.house.mn.gov/sessiondaily/Story/15307

Minnesota Senate maintains DFL control

When DFL Senator Kelly Morrison stepped down to pursue a bid for Congress to replace Dean Phillips (she won the race with just over 59% of the vote last night), a special election was triggered to fill her southwest metro Senate seat. Former DFL Senator Ann Johnson Stewart, who was redistricted out of her seat in 2020, faced off against Republican Kathleen Fowke. Johnson Stewart eked out a win with 52.43% of the vote.

What’s next?

Not having won the Vice Presidential contest, Governor Tim Walz is expected to return to Minnesota to finish out the remainder of his term. The two recounts that will determine the fate of the state House and the tenor of the legislature will take up much of the media attention over the next few weeks to months.

November 6, 2024