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Last Night's Big Wins
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan made history Tuesday night as the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate—a first that we should all be ashamed took so long. A member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, Flanagan beat former sportscaster/podcaster Michele Tafoya, who was Trump-endorsed but unenthusiastic about it, by over 10 points. She also whomped noted live tarantula thrower Marisa Simonetti by 52.6 points.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) will soon be Minnesota Gov. Amy Klobuchar, winning by nearly 13 points over Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R-St. Joseph). That’s a legit gubernatorial landslide, folks. While it didn’t beat Gov. Arne Carlson’s 29.2% margin, it’s still the largest victory since 1994.
While Trump continues his racist, vengeance-fueled campaign of terror to deport U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), she handily won her seat for the Fifth District for the fifth time with 76.5% of the vote. “Minnesota has shown the country that the antidote to Trump’s fascism is love, solidarity, and community,” Omar says in a statement.
Demuth Blocks Multiple Journalists from GOP Election Night Party
When Sahan Journal reporter Katelyn Vue showed up to the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel in Bloomington on Tuesday night, she had no reason to think she would be denied entrance to the Republican watch party. Her media request had been confirmed on Monday.
Turns out GOP-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth’s team didn’t want her there. When asked why, party organizer Noah Rouen mentioned a Sahan story by Joey Peters in which sources called Demuth’s TV ad about Somali gangs racist and told Vue to “make sure for your story you ask the DFL how many times they let Alpha News in.”
Vue was eventually escorted out of the building by three security guards; Racket contributor Chris Juhn does a great job of photographing the brouhaha. J. Patrick Coolican and Max Nesterax of Minnesota Reformer tell Vue they were also denied a press pass to the party, though it appears the Star Tribune and MPR News made the cut.
A Rapid Rundown: More Local Wins, Close Calls, and Upsets
In the Minnesota attorney general race, incumbent DFLer Keith Ellison beat Mr. Burns cosplayer/Republican Ron Schutz, whose campaign leaned heavily into fighting fraud despite his having a stock portfolio with “174 potential conflicts of interest.”
For state auditor, DFL-endorsed accountant Zack Filipovich beat Dr. Kitty Litter, aka Scott Jensen, by nine points.
Cedric Frazier will be the first Black Hennepin County attorney, taking over for Mary Moriarty, who chose not to run for a second term. Frazier eked out a win against Anders Folk by two points. An even closer race for Ramsey County commissioner saw St. Paul Council President Rebecca Noecker beat state Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega (DFL-St. Paul) by a mere 119 votes.
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt will remain Hennepin County sheriff.
St. Paul’s right to repair ordinance, which allows tenants to bill their landlords up to $500 (or half of their monthly rent) to do their own maintenance in their units, passed with 79% of the vote, while Minneapolis’s constitutional amendment to get more money to public schools without upping taxes also easily passed with 73% voting "yes."
Matt Little, mayor of Lakeville and former DFL state senator, beat Republican Eric Pratt in District 2. State Sen. Jim Abeler (R-Anoka), a surprise critic of Operation Metro Surge, was ousted by DFLer Angela Nelson. Meanwhile, Nicole Mitchell, the state senator who resigned in 2025 after a burglary conviction, is back in action, winning a seat on the Woodbury City Council—who doesn’t love a redemption arc?
Maps Are Cool!
Election night is always a time for data nerds to shine; it’s fascinating to see how different outlets crunch numbers to display how we all voted.
This map from Star Tribune graphics reporter Jake Steinberg is super cool. It allows you to investigate the ways Minnesotans voted in the gubernatorial race by street address, by income, and by SNAP usage, among other criteria.
MinnPost data journalist Amira Sweilem created this green map showing which states had the best voter turnout. Turns out Minnesota is No.1 with 2.93 million ballots cast. “That’s two out of three eligible Minnesotans,” Sweilem writes.
