Overview and Live Results: Minnesota State Senate Special Primaries
January 14 brings us the year’s first primary and the second set of off-year elections in the United States amid numerous controversies in the Minnesota Legislature.
A primary will be held for State Senate 60 to fill in a vacancy after former State Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic passed away on December 27, 2024 after a battle with ovarian cancer.
A scheduled primary for State House District 40B was cancelled after the four Democratic candidates - John Doan, Jasmine Carey, Mark Pitman, and Kaying Thao withdrew themselves from the race, making David Gottfried the nominee. He will face Paul Wikstrom.
The two vacancies will be filled via a special election on January 28 - though its possible it may change as the Republican Party of Minnesota and the Minnesota Voter Alliance have filed a lawsuit with the Minnesota Supreme Court against governor Tim Walz, alleging that the January 28 election date violates a state law they say requires the Legislature, which reconvenes on January 14, to be in session for 22 days before a special election can be held.
State House
Democrats and Republicans each won 67 seats in November, with the GOP gaining three seats.
In 2024, Curtis Johnson (Democratic) won election in House 40B by 30.64%. However, Ramsey County District Judge Leonardo Castro ruled that he did not comply with residency requirements. Following the ruling, on December 27, Curtis Johnson resigned, giving Republicans a 67-66 majority.
However, there is additional turmoil in District 54A, where incumbent Brad Tabke (Democratic) won by a mere 14 votes. It was discovered that 21 early mail-in ballots were accidentally discarded before being tabulated, and the GOP challenger sued for a new election. A judge ruled in favor of Tabke on Tuesday.
It is up to the House to decide who gets sworn in, and Republicans may refuse to seat Tabke, despite the ruling, in order to force governor Tim Walz into calling a special election. In response, Democrats have threatened to not show up on Tuesday, which would deny a new session from starting.
State Senate
After the death of Kari Dziedzic, the Minnesota State Senate is tied between 33 Democrats and 33 Republicans, making this a crucial race for both parties.
On the Republican side, two candidates are competing to be the party’s nominee, Abigail Wolters and Christopher Zimmerman.
On the Democratic side, seven candidates are competing for the nomination. They are Doron Clark, Monica Meyer, Peter Wagenius, Iris Altamirano, Amal Karim, Joshua Preston, and Emilio Rodríguez. Another candidate, Mohamed Jama, dropped out on January 8 due to residency issues, although will still likely be on the ballot.
In 2020, Kari Dziedzic (Democratic) won the seat by 71.62%. She was unopposed in 2022. No Republican has ever won this seat since State Senate districts became partisan in 1976.
Given the partisan lean of this district, whoever wins the Democratic nomination will almost certainly be elected to the State Senate.