The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party held its one-seat majority in the Minnesota Senate after two Tuesday special elections for vacant seats did not shift the partisan balance of the chamber.
Unofficial election results late Tuesday showed state Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger, DFL-Woodbury, held a decisive lead over Republican challenger Dwight Dorau in the special election for Senate District 47, which includes the city of Woodbury and southern Maplewood.
As of 10:30 p.m. Hemmingsen-Jaeger had 61% of the vote to Dorau’s 39% with 17 of 19 precincts reporting.
The seat has been vacant since July, when former DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell resigned after her conviction on two felony burglary charges. Hemmingsen-Jaeger’s apparent win Tuesday night means the district remains in DFL hands.
“Congratulations to Amanda, on a decisive victory,” Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said in a statement. ”With a record of fighting to lower the cost of prescription drugs and capping the price of insulin, it’s clear that voters sided with the leader ready to deliver for their families. I look forward to working alongside her in this critical time.”
Meanwhile, Michael Holmstrom Jr. held a significant early lead over DFLer Louis McNutt in the special election for Senate District 29, which includes most of Wright County and parts of Meeker and Hennepin counties.
Holmstrom had 62% of the vote to McNutt’s 38% with 35 of 37 precincts reporting.
Holmstrom will fill the vacant seat of Sen. Bruce Anderson, R-Buffalo, who died unexpectedly in July at 75. Republicans were expected to hold on to Anderson’s former seat.
“Tonight’s results are a testament to our community’s shared values and desire for a stronger Minnesota,” Holmstrom said in a statement. “As your next State Senator, I will fight to protect your tax dollars against fraud, strengthen public safety, support parental rights in schools, and lower costs for you and your family.”
With neither seat changing party hands, the DFL will keep its one-seat majority in the Senate. When the winners are sworn into office, it will return to the margin that voters delivered in the 2024 election: 34 DFLers to 33 Republicans.
Last year’s election gave the state its most closely divided government ever: a House tied 67-67 between Republicans and DFLers and a Senate split 34-33 with the DFL holding the advantage.
Senate District 47 has favored Democrats by double-digit margins in recent elections, though it is not as historically Democratic as the center of the Twin Cities and was seen as the more competitive of the two races.
Hemmingsen-Jaeger focused her message on tackling rising health care and child care costs, and protecting the environment. She also said voters were worried about President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and cuts to federal spending.
Dorau, meanwhile, hoped that voters would see what could be more than $1 billion in fraud in state government programs and significant spending growth under DFL leadership in recent years as reasons to vote for a Republican candidate.
Katie Demaris, a 39-year-old preschool teacher from Woodbury, said she voted for the DFL candidate because she’s concerned about cuts at the federal level and what greater Republican power in her home state could mean for public food assistance and education spending.
“I just almost feel like it’s protecting everything,” she said outside of a polling location at Woodbury Elementary School. “For the benefits, for our school districts, for the education, what we’re allowed to teach.”
Republican voters who spoke with the Pioneer Press said they were concerned about fraud in state government and growing taxes.
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