CapWatch:
Primary Election Recap

Primary Election

On Tuesday, August 11, Minnesotan’s went to the polls to select candidates for federal, state, and local office for November’s general election. This year’s statewide primary was particularly notable as it featured competitive races for all four constitutional officers, eight seats in Congress, a U.S. Senate seat, and a number of  seats in the Minnesota Legislature. The following are the more significant races decided last night.

• U.S. Senate – Democratic Sen. Tina Smith announced last year that she would not seek another term, creating an open seat in the U.S. Senate for the first time since 2006. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan won the Democratic Farmer Labor Party (“DFL”) endorsement in May before defeating Congresswomen Angie Craig in one of the more expensive and contentious primary elections in recent memory.

*Flanagan: 59.02%

Craig: 39.38%

Republicans also had a primary for the U.S. Senate race featuring former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya, former Navy SEAL (and Republican endorsed candidate) Adam Schwarze, and former NBA player (and 2024 US Senate nominee) Royce White. Tafoya emerged with a comfortable victory having secured significantly more resources for her campaign than her competitors.

*Tafoya: 52.58%

Schwarze: 23.87%

White: 10.97%

• Governor – While 15 different candidates filed to run for governor of Minnesota, it is the Republican primary drew the most attention with three top candidates, including the Republican-endorsed candidate, businessman Kendall Qualls, Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring), and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Despite President Trump’s endorsement of Lindell, Speaker Demuth emerged as the Republican nominee and will face off against U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar in November.

*Demuth: 43.44%

Lindell: 32.47%

Qualls: 21.37%

• U.S. House of Representatives – While each of Minnesota’s eight congressional district offices are also up for election, Minnesota’s Second Congressional District (currently represented by Rep. Angie Craig) was the host of the most notable primary. Six candidates sought the DFL nomination, with former state Sen. Matt Little (DFL-Lakeville) victorious. Little will face off against current state Sen. Eric Pratt (R-Prior-Lake) in November.

*Matt Little: 47.23%

Sen. Matt Klein: 30.4%

Rep. Kaela Berg: 16.66%

• Minnesota State Legislature – With more than 40 of the 201 incumbent state legislators not seeking their current office and some incumbents drawing intra-party challenges, there were several primary elections across the state. Some of the more notable incumbents also faced intra-party challenges this month, including Democrats Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park), Sen. Susan Pha (DFL-Brooklyn Park), Sen. Omar Fateh (DFL-Minneapolis), Rep. Mohamud Noor (DFL-Minneapolis), and Rep. Huldah Momanyi-Hiltsley (DFL-Brooklyn Park). All Democrat incumbents were victorious in last nights primary.

*Sen. Latz: 59.77%

Lynette Lungay Dumalag: 40.23%

*Sen. Pha: 74.89%

Nehemiah Garley: 25.11%

*Sen. Fateh: 78.29%

Jeanelle Austin: 14.37%

Brenda Short:7.34%

*Rep. Noor: 84.63%

Abdurrahman Mahmud: 15.37%

*Rep. Momanyi-Hiltsley: 48.79%

Wynfred Russell: 41.81%

Richard A. Klatte: 9.4%

Republicans had their own slate of incumbent primaries, including Sen. Paul Utke (R-Park Rapids), Sen. Nathan Wesenberg (R-Little Falls) and Sen. John Jasinski (R-Fairbault) as well as with Rep. Josh Heintzeman (R-Nisswa), Rep. Tom Murphy (R-Underwood), and Rep. Dawn Gillman (R-Dassel). All but one incumbent won their primary races, with current state Rep. Mike Wiener (R-Long Prairie) narrowly beating Sen. Paul Utke by less than two hundred votes.

*Rep. Wiener: 50.84%

Sen. Utke: 49.16%

*Sen. Wesenberg: 74.21%

Deb Holthaus: 25.79%

*Sen. Jasinski: 88.22%

Crystal Alan: 11.78%

*Rep. Heintzeman: 88.18%

Matthew Zinda: 11.18%

*Rep. Murphy: 88.55%

Craig Horlocker: 11.45%

*Rep. Gillman: 77.48%

Wayne Olson: 22.52%

Many judicial and local offices held primaries as well. For more primary results and other useful material, you can visit the Secretary of State’s website here. Watch for more information from Larkin Hoffman Public Affairs and additional content leading up to the November general election.