Minnesota State Senate Special Primary: Overview and Live Results

Amid a number of controversies, the new session of the Minnesota Legislature is supposed to begin Tuesday.

Two vacancies - one in each chamber - will be filled via special election on January 28, with primaries for one of them also taking place today. Live results for those will be available in the State Senate section on this page after the polls close at 9:00 PM Eastern.

State House

Democrats and Republicans both won 67 seats in the November elections, as the GOP gained three seats. However, Representative-elect Curtis Johnson (D) resigned the District 40B seat he won in November. A judge ruled that Johnson did not meet residency requirements. 

If that was the only issue, Republicans would have a 67-66 majority for at least the first few weeks of the term. However, there is additional turmoil around District 54A, where incumbent Democrat Brad Tabke won by 14 votes. Controversy arose when it was discovered that 21 early mail-in ballots were discarded by mistake before being tabulated. The GOP challenger sued for a new election. On Tuesday, a judge ruled in favor of Tabke. 

Ultimately, though, it is up to the House to decide who gets sworn in, and Republicans may refuse to seat Tabke despite the judge's ruling. The goal would be to force Gov. Tim Walz (D) to call a special election. In response, Democrats may not show up on Tuesday, which would deny the House a quorum meaning - basically - the new session can't begin.

Returning to District 40B, Johnson defeated Republican Paul Wikstrom by 65% to 35% in November. Wikstrom is again the nominee, while David Gottfried is the Democratic nominee. As only one candidate qualified from each party, there will be no primaries Tuesday. 

State Senate

This chamber is evenly divided at 33 Democrats and Republicans after the late December death of Democrat Kari Dziedzic. Seven Democrats and two Republicans are seeking their respective party's nomination.

Dziedzic was first elected to the Minneapolis area District 60 in 2012. She was unopposed in 2022. Democrats are expected to hold the seat, returning the party to a majority after the special election.

In the interim, the first two weeks of the session will be run via a power sharing agreement negotiated between the parties.

Upcoming Special Elections

• January 21
  • South Carolina State House District 113 (Primary)
    • Runoff (if needed) February 4; General Election March 25
• January 28
  • Florida Congressional Districts 1 and 6 (Primaries)
  • Iowa State Senate District 35
  • Minnesota State Senate District 60
  • Minnesota State House District 40B
• February 15
  • Louisiana State Senate Districts 14 and 23 (Primaries)
    • General Election (if needed) March 29
• February 25
  • California State Senate District 36 and State Assembly District 32 (Primaries)
    • General Election (if needed) April 29
  • Maine State House District 24
• March 4
  • Oklahoma State Senate District 8 (Primary)
    • Runoff (if needed) April 1; General Election May 13
• March 11
  • Alabama State Senate District 5 (Primary)
    • Runoff (if needed) April 8; General Election June 24
• March 25
  • Mississippi State House Districts 23 and 82
    • Runoff (if needed) April 22
  • Pennsylvania State Senate District 36
• April 1
  • Florida Congressional Districts 1 and 6
  • Wisconsin Supreme Court (not a special election)