Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) triumphed in the Minnesota gubernatorial election against Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth.
Klobuchar took 56.2% of the vote while Demuth took 41.9% of the vote, as of 12:09 a.m. Demuth consistently trailed Klobuchar by 7 to 8 points in polling, hardly a surprise in the increasingly deep blue state.
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The Minnesota gubernatorial race earned national attention earlier in the cycle during the Republican primary, when Demuth faced off against eccentric MyPillow Founder Mike Lindell. In a rebuff to the national trend in Republican primaries, Demuth was able to win despite President Donald Trump endorsing her opponent.
Demuth outperformed many alternatives, given her established position in state politics. The electoral weight of St. Paul and Minneapolis, two deep-blue cities, ultimately proved too much for her campaign to outmatch.
Republicans were seen as having a shot at the governorship at the beginning of this year when Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) looked poised to run for a third term. The investigations into corruption and fraud in the state tanked his popularity, but Democrats’ chances improved when he dropped out on Jan. 5, clearing the way for the popular Klobuchar to run instead.
Republican attempts to pin the blame for the fraud scandal on Klobuchar and the Democrats more broadly failed to fully stick.
The governor-elect will now make history as the state’s first female governor.
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Minnesota has become an increasingly prominent Democratic state over several recent developments, including the Democrats’ 2024 vice presidential nominee coming from the state, fraud within the Somali community of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and the related ICE surge targeting the city.
Klobuchar’s term in the Senate ends in January 2031, so Walz must now pick someone to serve the remainder of her term. Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), who unsuccessfully ran against Penny Flanagan in the 2026 Senate race, is viewed as the most likely candidate. A special election can still be called in 2027 if necessary, even though it is an off-year for general elections.