In the previous legislature, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) leveraged their existing trifecta to enact significant legislative changes, including paid family leave, universal free school meals, a progressive child tax credit, increased sales and gas taxes for housing and transportation respectively, codified abortion rights, established a commission to redesign the state flag, and eliminated public university tuition for families earning under $85,000. The slim majorities held by the DFL were maintained by narrow victories in key battleground districts. They won control of the chamber following the 2018 election and entered this cycle with a majority of 5 seats.[3]
The DFL lost 3 seats in Greater Minnesota to the Republicans, resulting in a tie with both parties winning 67 seats.[4] Two seats, in 14B in Saint Cloud and 54A in Shakopee, were won by the DFL within a 0.5% margin and held hand recounts, which confirmed the initial winners.[5]
Republicans challenged three seat results in court. In District 54A, 21 ballots went missing due to human error on the first day of absentee ballot processing, and the margin between candidates was only 15 votes after a recount.[6][7] The judge ruled in favor of Tabke, denying the request for a special election.[8]
In District 40B, Republicans successfully invalidated DFL winner Curtis Johnson's election certificate.[9] The judge ruled that Johnson did not meet residency requirements and was thus ineligible to take the oath of office.[10][11] This temporarily shifted the House majority to 67–66 in favor of Republicans until a special election was held, which shifted it back to 67–67. DFL representatives held a boycott of the first three weeks of the legislative sessions, in an attempt to deny the Republicans a quorum,[12] until the two parties made a power sharing agreement on February 5.[13] and on February 6, Lisa Demuth was elected as speaker.[14]
A primary election was held in 19 districts to nominate Republican and DFL candidates. 15 Republican nominations and 7 DFL nominations were contested. Eight incumbents faced challenges for their party's nomination, with Brian Johnson (R-Cambridge), being the only incumbent who lost their party's nomination.[32][33]
Major Minnesota news outlets published lists of House districts that were expected to be competitive in 2024 based on past results and campaign spending. The Minnesota Star Tribune considered 15 races competitive, MPR News listed 14 as districts to watch, MinnPost and the Minnesota Reformer both cited 16 districts.[44][45][46][47]
21 districts were decided by margins below 10 points, 16 races under 5 points, and 4 separated by less than 1%.[43] The closest contest was in District 54A, where Brad Tabke led by 14 votes on election night (0.06%); this margin was extended to 15 votes after a hand recount. Districts 54A and 14B both saw their results confirmed in recounts.[48][49]
District 1A is located in the northwest corner of the state and includes all or portions of Kittson, Marshall, Pennington, and Roseau counties. The incumbent, Republican John Burkel, has served since 2021 and was re-elected with 76.07% of the vote.
District 1B is located in northwestern Minnesota and includes East Grand Forks, Crookston, and Red Lake Falls. The incumbent is Republican Debra Kiel, who was first elected in 2010. She was re-elected in 2022 with 71.13% of the vote. Kiel announced that she was retiring at the end of the term and would not be seeking re-election.
Republican Steve Gander won the election with 67% of the vote.
2A is located in northwestern Minnesota, stretching as far south as Bemidji and as far north as the Northwest Angle. Incumbent Matt Grossell (R) won in 2022 with 54.35% of the vote. Grossell is not seeking re-election.[55] Republican Bidal Duran Jr won with about 52% of votes cast.
District 2B is in north-central Minnesota, including the towns of Bagley and Mahnomen.[58] Incumbent Matt Bliss (R), first elected in 2016, won with 63.73% of the vote.[50]
Incumbent Roger Skraba (R) was first elected in 2022, when he won by a 15-vote margin, earning 49.98% of votes.[50] District 3A is located in northeastern Minnesota, covering large portions of the Iron Range and the northern Arrowhead Region. Cities in the district include International Falls, Ely, Silver Bay, and Grand Marais. It is the largest house district by area.[59]
Incumbent Natalie Zeleznikar (R) was first elected in 2022, winning by 33 votes (50.01%) and ousted longtime DFL Rep. Mary Murphy.[50] District 3B contains the suburbs and townships around Duluth including Two Harbors, Hermantown and Rice Lake.[61] Voters in the district opted for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election and Walz in 2022.[62]
Mark Munger, a former Proctor city attorney and a retired judge for the Sixth Judicial District, is her DFL opponent. Munger also owns a publishing company, the Cloquet River Press, and has authored 14 books, according to his publishing website.[62] Munger's years on the bench and past judicial decisions have come under some scrutiny from conservative organizations.[63]
District 4B is located in northwestern Minnesota, surrounding the city of Moorhead and including Glyndon and Detroit Lakes.[71] Incumbent Jim Joy (R) won 62.88% of the vote in 2022.[50]
District 5A is located in north central Minnesota. The largest city in 5A is Park Rapids.[73] Incumbent Krista Knudsen (R) was first elected in 2022 with 70.49% of the vote.
The district is located in central Minnesota and covers all of Todd County plus portions of Morrison, Cass, and Wadena counties. Republican Mike Wiener was first elected in 2022 with 75.36% of the vote.
District 6A, located in north central Minnesota, stretches from Grand Rapids to Garrison.[78] Incumbent Ben Davis (R) was first elected in 2022 with 62.30% of the vote.
District 7B is located in the northeastern Iron Range of Minnesota, and includes the cities of Virginia, Chisholm, Eveleth, and other rural townships in St. Louis County. The incumbent, DFLer Dave Lislegard, decided to not run for re-election.[82] The seat was predicted as a likely flip,[62] and Republican Cal Warwas won by over 12 points.
District 8A covers west Duluth. Incumbent Liz Olson (DFL) is not seeking re-election.[16] DFL-endorsed Peter Johnson won the DFL primary against Jordon Johnson.
District 8B covers east Duluth. Incumbent Alicia Kozlowski (DFL) was first elected in 2022 with 70% of the vote.[16] She was re-elected by a similar margin in 2024.
First-term representative Bernie Perryman won the 2022 election over her DFL opponent by 199 votes. Perryman is a small business owner and chair of the St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce. She was also a regional vice president for Anheuser-Busch for 20 years.[97]
Abdi Daisane, a Somali American business owner, is the DFL challenger. Daisane moved to St. Cloud in 2013 to attend St. Cloud State University.[98] His priorities, according to his campaign website, include supporting affordable housing, increasing funding for the state's child care centers and advocating for climate justice.[99]
District 14B represents the other half of St. Cloud as well as part of Sauk Rapids. The results fell within the margin for a hand recount in some precincts. A recount confirmed Wolgamott's re-election and reduced his vote total by one.[48]
Incumbent Dan Wolgamott (DFL) won his 2022 race by 540 votes.[62] The three-term legislator ran for reelection. Last year, Wolgamott pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor DWI charge after he was suspected of drinking alcohol in the parking lot of a liquor store.[103]
GOP challenger Sue Ek ran for a St. Cloud House seat during a special election in 2005, but the state Supreme Court removed her from the ballot after agreeing with a lower court that she didn't live in St. Cloud long enough to meet the state's residency requirements.[104]
District 16A is in western Minnesota.[109] Incumbent Dean Urdahl (R), who took 73% of the vote in 2022, did not run for re-election.[25] Republican Scott Van Binsbergen won the election, taking 71.6% of the vote.
District 18 includes parts of Mankato and the cities of North Mankato and Kasota. Incumbent representative Jeff Brand (DFL) lost his bid for re-election to Republican candidate Erica Schwartz.
Brand was previously a St. Peter City Council member and board member of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities. Erica Schwartz lives in Nicollet, where she works at a local convenience store owned by her husband; Schwartz ran on inflation, law enforcement and education.[115] Schwartz was heard in a side conversation after a fundraiser saying that Democratic are leading the U.S. towards another Holocaust. She apologized for the comment.[116]
District 19A is in and around Faribault in southern Minnesota.[118] Incumbent Brian Daniels (R), who won with 64.9% of votes in 2022, did not run for re-election.[26] Republican Keith Allen held the seat with 64.6% of the vote.
District 19B is located in and around Owatonna in southern Minnesota. Incumbent John Petersburg (R), who won 70% of votes in 2022, did not run for re-election.[27] Republican Thomas J. Sexton won the general election with 66.03% of the vote.
District 21A is in the southwest corner of the state. Incumbent Joe Schomacker (R) has been serving since 2011, and was re-elected with 83 percent of the vote.
District 22B is in the southwest of Minnesota, including parts of Blue Earth, Le Sueuer, Rice, and Scott Counties.[134] Incumbent Brian Pfarr (R) did not run for re-election.[28] Republican Terry Stier won the seat with 68.7% of the vote.
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