Results Still Trickling In For Minnesota’s Most Competitive Races

From the Minnesota Reformer:

By Rilyn Eischens

November 4, 2020

Results from Tuesday’s election in Minnesota continued to trickle in Wednesday.

All 201 legislative seats were on the ballot, plus each of the state’s eight U.S. House seats and one of Minnesota’s U.S. senators. At the state level, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Republican Party were vying for control of the state House and Senate ahead of a pivotal legislative session in 2021.

Here are the results of some of the most closely watched races as of early afternoon Wednesday. Some absentee ballots may not have been counted yet, and more may come in through Nov. 10.

U.S. House

District 1

This race had not been called as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. Republican Rep. Jim Hagedorn was on track to defeat DFL challenger Dan Feehan in a close race. Marijuana candidate Bill Rood had won nearly 6% of the vote.

District 2

This race had not been called as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. DFL Rep. Angie Craig declared victory over Republican challenger Tyler Kistner. Marijuana candidate Adam Weeks, who died before the election, had won nearly 6% of the vote. Weeks told a close friend in May that he had been recruited by the GOP to siphon votes away from Democrats.

District 3

Rep. Dean Phillips defeated Republican challenger Kendall Qualls for a second term.

Phillips: 55.6%

Qualls: 44.4%

District 4

Rep. Betty McCollum easily defeated Republican challenger Gene Rechtzigel for an 11th term in the U.S. House.

McCollum: 63.3%

Rechtzigel: 29.1%

Marijuana candidate Susan Sindt: 7.6%

District 5

Rep. Ilhan Omar easily defeated Republican challenger Lacy Johnson for a second term in the U.S. House.

Omar: 64.6%

Johnson: 25.9%

Marijuana candidate Michael Moore: 9.5%

District 6

Rep. Tom Emmer easily defeated DFL challenger Tawnja Zahradka.

Emmer: 66.1%

Zahradka: 33.9%

District 7

GOP challenger Michelle Fischbach, a former Minnesota legislator and lieutenant governor, unseated Rep. Collin Peterson, who had represented the district since 1991 even as it shifted right.

Fischbach: 53.4%

Peterson: 39.9%

Marijuana candidate Slater Johnson: 4.9%

Marijuana candidate Rae Hart Anderson: 1.8%

District 8

Republican Rep. Pete Stauber defeated DFL challenger Quinn Nystrom for a second term.

Stauber: 56.7%

Nystrom: 37.6%

Marijuana candidate Judith Schwartzbacker: 5.7%

Minnesota Senate

Senate District 5

Sen. Justin Eichorn, R-Grand Rapids, easily held off Bemidji mayor Rita Albrecht. Legal Marijuana Now candidate Robyn Smith won more than 5% of the vote. Smith told the Reformer in June that she was recruited to run by a Republican, and was happy to help siphon votes away from Albrecht.

Eichorn: 54.7%

Albrecht: 37.5%

Smith: 5.6%

Senate District 14

The race had not yet been called as of noon Wednesday, and Sen. Jerry Relph, R-St. Cloud, had a tight lead of fewer than 500 votes over challenger Aric Putnam. Legal Marijuana Now candidate Jaden Partlow was winning nearly 8% of the vote.

Senate District 25

This race had not yet been called as of noon Wednesday, and Sen. David Senjem, R-Rochester, had maintained a slim margin over challenger Sara Flick.

Senate District 56

DFL challenger Lindsey Port unseated three-term Sen. Dan Hall, R-Burnsville. Port is the director of a campaign nonprofit and ran for Minnesota House in 2016 and 2018.

Port: 53.1%

Hall: 46.9%

Senate District 58

Republican Zach Duckworth defeated Sen. Matt Little, DFL-Lakeville, by nearly 10 points. Trump won the district by a wide margin in 2016 and appears to have won the area again in the 2020 election.

Duckworth: 55.3%

Little: 44.7%

Minnesota House

House District 4B

This race hadn’t been called as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. Rep. Paul Marquart, DFL-Dilworth, seems to have continued his unlikely winning streak as a rural Democrat in Tuesday’s contest over Republican challenger Brian Anderson.

House District 5A

This race hadn’t been called as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. Republican challenger Matt Bliss was leading five-term Rep. John Persell, DFL-Bemidji.

House District 6A

This race hadn’t been called as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. Republican challenger Rob Farnsworth was leading Rep. Julie Sandstede, DFL-Hibbing.

House District 27B

This race hadn’t been called as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. Republican challenger Patricia Mueller was leading Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, who has served in the state House since 2004.

House District 33B

This race hadn’t been called as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. Rep. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, was leading Republican challenger Andrew Myers by a small margin.

House District 39B

This race hadn’t been called as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. First-term Rep. Shelly Christensen, DFL-Stillwater, was leading Republican challenger Joe Garofalo by a small margin.

House District 54A

This race hadn’t been called as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. Republican challenger Keith Franke was leading first-term Rep. Anne Claflin, DFL-South St. Paul.

House District 55A

This race hadn’t been called as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. Republican challenger Erik Mortensen was leading first-term Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee. Legal Marijuana Now candidate Ryan Martin won more than 7% of the vote.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..