2018 United States Senate Special Election In Minnesota
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The 2018 United States Senate special election in Minnesota took place on November 6, 2018, to elect a
United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
from
Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
to replace incumbent Democratic senator
Al Franken Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American politician, comedian, and actor who served from 2009 to 2018 as a United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he worked as an ...
until the regular expiration of the term on January 3, 2021. Facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, Franken announced on December 7, 2017, that he would resign effective January 2, 2018. Governor
Mark Dayton Mark Brandt Dayton (born January 26, 1947) is an American politician who served as the List of governors of Minnesota, 40th governor of Minnesota from 2011 to 2019. He served as a United States Senate, United States Senator representing Minneso ...
appointed Franken's successor,
Tina Smith Christine Elizabeth Smith (née Flint, born March 4, 1958) is an American politician, retired Democratic political consultant, and former businesswoman serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United Sta ...
, on December 13, 2017, and she ran in the special election. This election coincided with a regularly scheduled U.S. Senate election for the Class 1 Senate seat, U.S. House elections, a
gubernatorial election A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
, State House elections, and other elections. The candidate filing deadline was June 5, 2018, and the primary election was held on August 14, 2018. Smith won the Democratic primary and defeated Republican nominee Karin Housley in the general election.


DFL primary


Candidates


Nominated

*
Tina Smith Christine Elizabeth Smith (née Flint, born March 4, 1958) is an American politician, retired Democratic political consultant, and former businesswoman serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United Sta ...
, incumbent U.S. senator


Eliminated in primary

* Ali Chehem * Gregg A. Iverson,
perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...
* Nick Leonard, attorney and activist * Richard Painter,
University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, a public university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Pa ...
professor and former White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush * Christopher Lovell Seymore Sr.


Declined

* Scott Dibble, state senator *
Keith Ellison Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2019 as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for fr ...
,
U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
(running for
Minnesota attorney general The attorney general of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Thirty individuals have held the office of Attorney General since statehood. The incumbent is Keith Ellison, a Democratic-Farme ...
) *
Melisa Franzen ''Melisa'' is a genus of moths in the family Erebidae The Erebidae are a family (biology), family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well ...
, state senator *
Betty McCollum Betty Louise McCollum ( ; born July 12, 1954) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving since 2001. She is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). McCollum's district centers on St. Paul, Minnesot ...
, U.S. representative (running for reelection) * Rick Nolan, U.S. representative (running for
lieutenant governor of Minnesota The lieutenant governor of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Fifty individuals have held the office of lieutenant governor since statehood. The incumbent is Peggy Flanagan, a Democratic ...
) *
Collin Peterson Collin Clark Peterson (born June 29, 1944) is an American accountant, politician, and lobbyist who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1991 to 2021. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer– ...
, U.S. representative (running for reelection) *
Jake Sullivan Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan (born November 28, 1976) is an American attorney who served as the National Security Advisor (United States), U.S. national security advisor from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. Sullivan previously served as Dire ...
, former National Security Adviser to
Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
*
Lori Swanson Lori Swanson (born December 16, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Minnesota Attorney General, attorney general of Minnesota from 2007 to 2019. She was the first female attorney general elected in Minnesota. In 2018 Min ...
, Attorney General of Minnesota (running for governor) * Patricia Torres Ray, state senator (running for MN-5) *
Tim Walz Timothy James Walz (; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician who has served since 2019 as the 41st governor of Minnesota. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States, vice pre ...
, U.S. representative ( running for governor)


Endorsements


Results


Republican primary


Candidates


Nominated

* Karin Housley, state senator


Eliminated in primary

* Bob Anderson, businessman * Nikolay Nikolayevich Bey


Declined

* Sarah Anderson, Minnesota state representative *
Michele Bachmann Michele Marie Bachmann (; née Amble; born April 6, 1956) is an American politician who was the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2007 until 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican P ...
, former U.S. representative * Michelle Benson, state senator * Christopher Chamberlin ( running for MN-05) *
Norm Coleman Norman Bertram Coleman Jr. (born August 17, 1949) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist. From 2003 to 2009, he served as a United States Senate, United States Senator for Minnesota. From 1994 to 2002, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Mi ...
, former U.S. senator (endorsed Karin Housley) * Kurt Daudt, Speaker of the
Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...
*
Tom Emmer Thomas Earl Emmer Jr. (born March 3, 1961) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who has served as majority whip in the United States House of Representatives since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he has represented since 2 ...
, U.S. representative (endorsed Karin Housley) * Paul Gazelka, Majority Leader of the
Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...
*
Pete Hegseth Peter Brian Hegseth (born June 6, 1980) is an American author, former television presenter, and former Army National Guard officer who has served as the 29th United States secretary of defense since 2025. Hegseth studied politics at Princeton ...
, veteran,
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
contributor and candidate for the U.S. Senate in
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
* Amy Koch, former Minnesota state senator * Jason Lewis, U.S. Representative *
Mike Lindell Michael James Lindell ( ; born June 28, 1961), also known as the My Pillow Guy and Mike Pillow, is an American businessman, political activist, and conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and CEO of My Pillow, a pillow, bedding, and slipper man ...
,
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of
My Pillow My Pillow, Inc. (stylized as MyPillow) is an American pillow-manufacturing company based in Chaska, Minnesota.Michael J Lindell"MyPillow HQ moves to Chaska,"Chaska Herald', June 16, 2015. The company was founded in 2009 by Mike Lindell, who in ...
* Jenifer Loon, state representative (endorsed Karin Housley) * Stewart Mills III, businessman and nominee for MN-08 in
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
and
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
*
Erik Paulsen Erik Philip Paulsen (born May 14, 1965) is an American businessman and politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Minnesota House of Representat ...
, U.S. representative *
Tim Pawlenty Timothy James Pawlenty ( ; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served from 2003 to 2011 as the 39th governor of Minnesota. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House ...
, former
governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...
(ran for governor, lost) * Joyce Peppin, Majority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives * Julie Rosen, Minnesota state senator


Endorsements


Results


Minor parties and independents


Candidates

*Jerry Trooien (
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
), real estate developer *Sarah Wellington ( Legal Marijuana Now Party)


General election


Predictions

^Highest rating given


Endorsements


Fundraising


Polling


Results

Smith won the election by 10.62 percentage points. Her margin was similar to that of Democratic gubernatorial nominee
Tim Walz Timothy James Walz (; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician who has served since 2019 as the 41st governor of Minnesota. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States, vice pre ...
, who defeated his Republican opponent by 11.41%. Both of those margins of victory were much smaller than that of senior Senator
Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member o ...
, who on the same day defeated her Republican opponent by 24.1 points. Smith won by huge margins in the Democratic strongholds of
Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the List of counties in ...
and Ramsey County, home of
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
and St. Paul, respectively. She also managed a 10% margin of victory in suburban Dakota County, just outside Minneapolis, and won St. Louis County, home of
Duluth Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...
. Housley won most of the state's rural areas. Turnout was high for a midterm election, with over 63% of registered voters in
Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
casting ballots.


Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Aitkin (largest municipality: Aitkin) * Lincoln (largest municipality: Tyler) *
Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
(largest city: Pine City) * Fillmore (largest city: Spring Valley) *
Freeborn "Freeborn" is a term associated with political agitator John Lilburne (1614–1657), a member of the Levellers, a 17th-century English political party. As a word, "freeborn" means born free, rather than in slavery or bondage or vassalage. Lilbu ...
(largest city: Albert Lea) * Itasca (largest city:
Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
) * Chippewa (largest city:
Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
) * Grant (largest city: Elbow Lake) *
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
(largest city: La Crescent) * Kanabec (largest city: Mora) * Kandiyohi (largest city: Willmar) * Le Sueur (largest city: Le Sueur) *
Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...
(largest city: Warren) * Mille Lacs (largest city:
Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...
) * Pennington (largest city: Thief River Falls) *
Polk DNA polymerase kappa is a DNA polymerase that in humans is encoded by the ''POLK'' gene. It is involved in translesion synthesis DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell (biology), cell identifies and corrects damage to the ...
(largest city: East Grand Forks) *
Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
(largest city: Glenwood) * Red Lake (largest city: Red Lake Falls) *
Renville Renville may refer to: Places in the United States * Renville, Minnesota * Renville County, Minnesota * Renville County, North Dakota Renville County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 United ...
(largest city: Olivia) * Lac qui Parle (largest city: Madison) * Big Stone (largest city: Ortonville) *
Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...
(largest city: Benson) * Stevens (largest city: Morris) * Traverse (largest city: Wheaton) * Wabasha (largest city: Lake City) * Waseca (largest city: Waseca) * Watonwan (largest city: St. James) * Yellow Medicine (largest city: Granite Falls)


By congressional district

Smith won four of Minnesota's eight congressional districts. Housley won the other four, including one that elected a Democrat.


Voter demographics


See also

*
2018 Minnesota elections A general election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 6, 2018. All of Minnesota's executive officers were up for election as well as all the seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives, several judicial seats, two United ...


Notes


References


External links


Elections & Voting – Minnesota Secretary of StateCandidates
at
Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

Candidates
at
Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Campaign finance
at FEC
Campaign finance
at
OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...
Official campaign websites
Karin Housley (R) for SenateTina Smith (D) for SenateJerry Trooien (I) for Senate
{{Minnesota elections Minnesota 2018 2018 special Minnesota special Minnesota 2018 United States Senate special United States Senate 2018