On Tuesday, August 11, 2026, Minnesota’s primary election delivered a return to mass appeal for Republicans and a slate of largely progressive Democrats running statewide.

Governor’s Race

Current House Speaker Lisa Demuth won out over Trump endorsee Mike Lindell and GOP-endorsed candidate Kendall Qualls by a significant margin, besting her nearest opponent (Lindell) by 11 percentage points. Demuth, a small business owner, has focused much of her campaign on fighting back against DFL overreach in state government. Heading into the general election, expect Demuth to continue making government fraud a central theme of her campaign.

Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar handily won the DFL party’s primary with nearly 90% of the vote. Klobuchar comes with none of the baggage of state government and enjoys widespread popularity but faces the most formidable candidate Republicans have put up in a decade.

U.S. Senate

In the race to replace outgoing U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan won over Congresswoman Angie Craig by a nearly 20-point margin. Apparently DFLers were jaded by Craig’s vote on the Laken Riley Act–which may have set the stage for Operation Metro Surge–and campaign messaging targeting her “dark money” support. Instead, voters chose the progressive candidate in Flanagan.

The GOP again bucked their party’s endorsement in their pick for U.S. Senate. Former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya ran away with 53% of the vote, to endorsed candidate Adam Schwarze’s 24%. Tafoya, with no experience in politics, will have to face Flanagan in a race where neither candidate has a federal issue voting record. Flanagan will have to defend herself against blame for everything that happened during Governor Tim Walz’s 8 years, while Tafoya will have to define herself beyond simple name ID and find a way to excite the far-right.

Other Races

Sleepy congressional district contests between strong incumbents and long-shot challengers delivered little excitement. In CD2, former state Senator Matt Little won the nomination with 47% of the vote and will go on to face current state Senator Eric Pratt in the general election.

Many eyes were on the race to replace outgoing Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. Current state Rep. Cedrick Frazier (36% of the vote) and Minneapolis attorney Anders Folk (23%) advance to the general election.

A couple of competitive primaries in the state Legislature are summarized below:

SD 46: Sen. Ron Latz vs. Lynette Dumalag

Longtime moderate Senator Latz faced off against former St. Louis Park councilmember Lynette Dumalag, whose progressive vision ultimately failed to resonate with the district. Latz won with just shy of 60% of the vote.

SD 5: Sen. Paul Utke vs. Rep. Mike Wiener

Rep. Wiener challenged sitting Senator Paul Utke from the right, defeating Utke by less than 200 votes.

August 12, 2026