2010 Minnesota Attorney General election

The 2010 Minnesota Attorney General election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, to elect the Minnesota Attorney General for a four-year term. Primary elections were held on August 10, 2010. Incumbent Lori Swanson of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) won reelection to a second term.

2010 Minnesota Attorney General election

← 2006 November 2, 2010 2014 →

Nominee Lori Swanson Chris Barden Bill Dahn Party Democratic (DFL) Republican Independence Popular vote 1,075,536 839,033 102,865 Percentage 52.9% 41.3% 5.06%

County results Precinct results Swanson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Barden:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Dahn:      30–40% Tie:      30–40%      40–50%      50%      No votes

Attorney General before election Lori Swanson Democratic (DFL) Elected Attorney General Lori Swanson Democratic (DFL)

Candidates

Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party

Incumbent Lori Swanson won endorsement at the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) convention. She faced only token opposition in her party's primary from Leo F. Meyer, and easily won her party's nomination in the August 10 primary.^[1]

Republican Party

Edina attorney and psychologist Chris Barden earned the endorsement of the Republican Party of Minnesota at its state convention. He was challenged in his party's primary by Sharon Anderson, a perennial candidate who won her party's endorsement for attorney general in 1994. In the August 10 primary, Barden earned 54% of the vote to defeat Anderson and earn his party's nomination.^[1]

Independence Party

Activist Bill Dahn, who has no formal legal education, was the only candidate seeking the office of Attorney General as a member of the Independence Party of Minnesota.^[1]

Resource Party

Activist David J. Hoch ran in the election for the Resource Party.

Results

Candidate		Party	Votes
			#	%
	Lori Swanson	Democratic–Farmer–Labor	1,075,536	52.90
	Chris Barden	Republican	839,033	41.27
	Bill Dahn	Independence	102,865	5.06
	David J. Hoch	Resource Party	14,040	0.69
	Write-in	—	1,613	0.08
Total			2,033,087	100.00
Valid votes			2,033,087	95.75
Blank votes			90,282	4.25
Turnout[2]			2,123,369	55.81
Eligible voters[2]			3,804,746

Source: Minnesota Secretary of State^[3]