The 2022 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the

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 ...

. Incumbent Democratic (DFL) Governor

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 ...

defeated the Republican nominee, former

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Scott Jensen, winning a second term. Jensen's advantage in rural Greater Minnesota could not overcome Walz's large lead in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

metropolitan area. Walz won the election by a comfortable 7.7% margin, narrowly larger than Biden's 7.1% margin in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

but smaller than his own previous record of 11.4%. With his win, Walz gave the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The party was formed by a merger between the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Minneso ...

its fourth consecutive gubernatorial victory, the most in the party's history. Furthermore, the DFL

held Held may refer to: Places * Held Glacier People Arts and media * Adolph Held (1885–1969), U.S. newspaper editor, banker, labor activist *Al Held (1928–2005), U.S. abstract expressionist painter. *Alexander Held (born 1958), German television ...

the

State House State House or statehouse may refer to: Buildings *Aso Villa or State House, the official residence of the President of Nigeria *Government House, Dominica or The State House, the official residence of the President of Dominica * State House, Bar ...

and flipped the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

, gaining a

trifecta Trifecta A trifecta is a parimutuel bet placed on a horse race in which the bettor must predict which horses will finish first, second, and third, in the exact order. Known as a trifecta in the US and Australia, this is known as a tricast in ...

for the first time since 2012.

Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary

Candidates

Nominee

, incumbent governor and former

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 ...

for

Minnesota's 1st congressional district Minnesota's 1st congressional district spans southern Minnesota from the border with South Dakota to the border with Wisconsin. It is a primarily rural district built on a strong history of agriculture, though this is changing rapidly due to pop ...

(2007–2019) **

Peggy Flanagan Peggy Flanagan (; born September 22, 1979) is an American politician and Native American activist serving as the 50th lieutenant governor of Minnesota since 2019. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Flanagan ser ...

, incumbent lieutenant governor

Eliminated in primary

*Ole Savior,

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 ...

**Julia M. Parker

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

* Scott Jensen, family medicine physician and former

Matt Birk Matthew Robert Birk (born July 23, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a center for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Minnesota Vikings. Born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota ...

, former professional football player with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

, businessman, and author

Eliminated in primary

*Bob "Again" Carney Jr., candidate for U.S. Senate in

**Captain Jack Sparrow,

*Joyce Lynne Lacey **Kent Edwards

Withdrawn

* Michelle Benson, state senator *Thomas Evensted, activist *

Paul Gazelka Paul E. Gazelka ( ; born October 1, 1959) is an American politician and small business owner from Minnesota. A Republican, Gazelka was a member of the Minnesota Senate and was previously a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. In the ...

, state senator and former 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 ...

*Mike Marti, businessman *Mike Murphy, mayor of Lexington *Kendall Qualls, Army veteran, businessman, and Republican nominee for

Minnesota's 3rd congressional district Minnesota's 3rd congressional district encompasses the suburbs of Hennepin and Anoka counties to the west, south, and north of Minneapolis. The district, which is mostly suburban in character, includes a few farming communities on its far w ...

*Neil Shah, physician and business owner * Rich Stanek, former Hennepin County Sheriff

Declined

*Rob Barrett, businessman, activist and candidate for the U.S. Senate in

, former

player (endorsed Jensen and became his running mate) * Jennifer Carnahan, former chair of the

Minnesota Republican Party The Republican Party of Minnesota is the state affiliate of the Republican Party in Minnesota and the oldest active political party in the state. Founded in 1855, the party is headquartered in Edina, and the current chairman is Alex Plechash. S ...

(2017–2021) and widow of U.S. Representative

Jim Hagedorn James Lee Hagedorn ( ; August 4, 1962 – February 17, 2022) was an American politician from Minnesota. A Republican, he was the U.S. representative for from 2019 until his death. The district stretches across southern Minnesota along the borde ...

(unsuccessfully ran for Congress in a 2022 special election) * Karin Housley, state senator and nominee for the U.S. Senate in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

(ran for reelection) *

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 ...

, inventor 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 ...

, businessman * Carla Nelson, state senator (ran for reelection)' *

Pete Stauber Peter Allen Stauber (born May 10, 1966) is an American politician, former minor-league hockey player, and retired law enforcement officer from Minnesota serving as the United States representative for Minnesota's 8th congressional district. A me ...

, U.S. representative for Minnesota's 8th congressional district (ran for reelection)

Caucuses and conventions

Caucus

The

caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

es took place on February 1, 2022. A caucus is a local meeting where all who intend to vote for the Republican Party are able to select their

precinct Precinct may refer to: * An electoral precinct * A police precinct * A religious precinct * A shopping arcade or shopping mall ** A Pedestrian zone Places * A neighborhood, in Australia * A unit of public housing in Singapore * A former elector ...

leadership, participate in a

straw poll A straw poll, straw vote, or straw ballot is an ad hoc or unofficial voting, vote. It is used to show the popular opinion on a certain matter, and can be used to help politicians know the majority opinion and help them decide what to say in order ...

for governor, write and pass resolutions, and elect

delegates Delegate or delegates may refer to: * Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia * Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique * Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations * Delegate (United S ...

to their local Basic Political Organizational Unit (BPOU). Those who were not elected BPOU delegates could become alternates and fill in for delegates who cannot attend the BPOU convention.

BPOU conventions

A BPOU has boundaries based on the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

or state senate district a voter resides in. The majority of these took place in March 2022. Elected delegates of each BPOU attended a convention relating to their district to vote on the resolutions passed at the caucus, complete party business, listen to candidates, and elect delegates to the state convention and their corresponding U.S. House District convention.

State convention

The Republican State Convention was held on May 13–14, 2022, in Rochester. 2,200 delegates were elected statewide to decide the Minnesota Republican Party's

endorsement Endorsement (alternatively spelled "indorsement") may refer to a: * testimonial, a written or spoken statement promoting or advertising a product * political endorsement, publicly declaring support for a candidate * form added to an insurance poli ...

in all statewide offices. The endorsed candidate receives the party's backing, including money and resources, ahead of the August 9 primary. Only one Republican, incumbent governor

Arne Carlson Arne Helge Carlson (born September 24, 1934) is an American politician who served from 1991 to 1999 as the 37th governor of Minnesota. Carlson is considered a liberal Republican. Before his governorship, he served as the Minnesota State Audito ...

in 1994, has won the primary without the party's endorsement. (Two Democrats,

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 ...

and

, won the Democratic primary against endorsed candidates.) At the convention, Scott Jensen won the endorsement with 65% of the vote on the ninth ballot, defeating Kendall Qualls. Mike Murphy,

, and Neil Shah were eliminated on earlier ballots. All the candidates who contested the endorsement pledged to forego the primary if not endorsed. Qualls soon honored his pledge by announcing his plans to "return to private life." Rich Stanek, the only major candidate who did not compete for the endorsement, did not file for the primary, leaving Jensen without major opposition. He faced two minor candidates in the August primary.

Endorsements

Results

Independents and others

Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Steve Patterson, anti-lockdown activist **Matt Huff

= Eliminated in primary

= *Darrell Paulsen, business consultant, nominee for lieutenant governor in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

**Edwin Engelmann, nominee for lieutenant governor in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Results

Legal Marijuana Now primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *James McCaskel, community organizer and BLM activist **David Sandbeck, activist and candidate for

Minnesota's 4th congressional district Minnesota's 4th congressional district covers nearly all of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County and part of Washington County, Minnesota, Washington County. It includes all of St. Paul, Minnesota, St. Paul and most of its northern and eas ...

= Eliminated in primary

= *

Chris Wright Christopher Allen Wright (born January 15, 1965) is an American government official, engineer, and businessman serving as the 17th United States Secretary of Energy, United States secretary of energy since 2025. Before his appointment, he was th ...

**L.C. Lawrence Converse

Results

Other parties

*Gabrielle M. Prosser, restaurant worker ( Socialist Workers) **Kevin A. Dwire,

*Hugh McTavish, scientist, entrepreneur and author (

Independence-Alliance Party The Independence—Alliance Party, a merger of the Alliance Party and the Independence Party, formerly the Reform Party of Minnesota (1996–2000), is a list of political parties in the United States, political party in the U.S. state of Minnesot ...

) **Mike Winter, commercial driver, podcast host, Teamster Union steward and candidate for

mayor of Minneapolis The mayor of Minneapolis is the chief executive officer of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, responsible for overseeing the city's administration. As the political and ceremonial leader of the city, the mayor also represents Minneapolis on the ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Withdrew

*Cory Hepola, former WCCO Radio host (

Forward Party Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sma ...

) **Tamara Uselman, school administrator *Brandon Millholland-Corcoran

Declined

Tom Bakk Thomas M. Bakk ( ; born June 8, 1954) is a Minnesota politician. He served in the Minnesota Legislature from 1995 to 2023 and is a former majority leader and minority leader. Early life, education, and career Bakk was born and raised in Cook, ...

, state senator and DFL candidate for governor in

*Christopher Chamberlin, candidate for governor, Senate, and House in 2018 *

Richard Painter Richard William Painter (born October 3, 1961) is an American lawyer, professor, and political candidate. From 2005 to 2007 Painter was the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. He is the S. Walter Richey Professor ...

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, former chief White House ethics lawyer, and DFL candidate for U.S. Senate in

(ran for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

)

Endorsements

General election

Campaign

The election's central issues were the economy, rising crime, Walz's response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, education, and abortion access following the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

decision overturning ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...

''. Walz campaigned on his first-term accomplishments, such as middle-class tax cuts, while making abortion rights a prominent focus of the campaign and attacking Jensen on abortion and his COVID-19 skepticism. Jensen attacked Walz over his COVID-19 policies, crime in the Twin Cities, inflation and gas prices, and education performance. Jensen was criticized for promoting the

hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...

that schools provided litter boxes to students who identify as

furries The furry fandom is a subculture interested in anthropomorphic animal characters. Some examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, speaking, walking on two legs, and wearing clothes. The te ...

Debates

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

Aggregate polls
Graphical summary
Tim Walz vs. Michelle Benson
Tim Walz vs. Paul Gazelka
Tim Walz vs. Mike Marti
Tim Walz vs. Mike Murphy
Tim Walz vs. Kendall Qualls
Tim Walz vs. Neil Shah
Tim Walz vs. Rich Stanek
Tim Walz vs. generic Republican

Results

By county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican * Anoka (Largest city: Blaine) * Beltrami (Largest city:

Bemidji Bemidji ( ) is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 census. According to 2022 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 15,946, makin ...

) *

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 Albert Lea may refer to: *Albert Lea, Minnesota, U.S. *Albert Lea Township, Freeborn County, Minnesota Albert Lea Township ( ) is a township in Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 808 at the 2000 census. Myre-Big Islan ...

) *

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) * Koochiching (Largest city:

International Falls International Falls (sometimes referred to as I-Falls) is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,802 at the time of the 2020 census. International Falls is located on the Rainy R ...

) * Mahnomen (Largest city: Mahnomen) *

Mower A mower is a person or machine that cuts (mows) grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for harvesting grain crops, e.g. with reape ...

(Largest city:

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

) *

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

(Largest city:

Ada Ada may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle'', a novel by Vladimir Nabokov Film and television * Ada, a character in 1991 movie '' Armour of God II: Operation Condor'' * '' Ada... A Way of Life'', a 2008 Bollywo ...

) (tied in 2018)

By congressional district

Walz and Jensen each won 4 of 8 congressional districts, all of which voted for the same party in the simultaneous House Elections.

Notes

Partisan clients

References

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 ...

Minnesota gubernatorial elections

Gubernatorial 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 ...

Tim Walz

Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrawn

Declined

Caucuses and conventions

Caucus

BPOU conventions

State convention

Endorsements

Results

Independents and others

Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= Eliminated in primary

Results

Legal Marijuana Now primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= Eliminated in primary

Results

Other parties

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

General election

Campaign

Debates

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

Results

By county

By congressional district

See also

Notes

References

External links