2014 Minnesota House of Representatives election

The 2014 Minnesota House of Representatives election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 4, 2014, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the 89th Minnesota Legislature. A primary election was held in several districts on August 12, 2014.

2014 Minnesota House of Representatives election

← 2012 November 4, 2014 (2014-11-04) 2016 →
All 134 seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives 68 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Kurt Daudt Paul Thissen Party Republican Democratic (DFL) Leader since January 8, 2013 January 4, 2011 Leader's seat 31A–Crown 61B–Minneapolis Last election 61 seats, 45.13% 73 seats, 53.74% Seats won 72 62 Seat change 11 11 Popular vote 958,667 944,961 Percentage 50.01% 49.30% Swing 4.88 pp 4.44 pp
Results by winning party vote share Results by gains and holds
Speaker before election Paul Thissen Democratic (DFL) Elected Speaker Kurt Daudt Republican

The Republican Party of Minnesota won a majority of seats, defeating the majority of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL). This was the first election for the DFL since it won a majority of seats in the 2012 election, after losing a majority to the Republicans in the 2010 election. The new Legislature convened on January 6, 2015.

Retiring members

DFL

• John Benson, 44B^[1]
• Kathy Brynaert, 19B^[2]
• Tom Huntley, 7A^[3]
• Michael Paymar, 64B^[4]
• Steve Simon, 46B^[5]

Republican

• Jim Abeler, 35A^[6]
• Mike Beard, 55A^[7]
• Mike Benson, 26B^[8]
• David FitzSimmons, 30B^[9]
• Mary Liz Holberg, 58A^[9]
• Andrea Kieffer, 53B^[10]
• Ernie Leidiger, 47A^[11]
• Pam Myhra, 56A^[12]
• Kelby Woodard, 20A^[13]
• Kurt Zellers, 34B^[14]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing[15]	Lean D	October 20, 2014

Competitive districts

According to an analysis by the Star Tribune, based on past election results, fundraising, and other factors, 16 seats were vulnerable to switching parties. 14 were held by the DFL and two by the Republicans.^[16] According to MinnPost, 15 seats had the best chance of switching parties, based on the district's political lean (as calculated by MinnPost),^[17] previous election results, and the strength of the respective candidates. 13 were held by the DFL and two by the Republicans.^[18]

District	Incumbent	Party	Star Tribune (September 7, 2014)	MinnPost (October 28, 2014)	Result
1B	Deb Kiel	Republican			Hold
2A	Roger Erickson	DFL			Republican gain
2B	Steve Green	Republican			Hold
4A	Ben Lien	DFL			Hold
10B	Joe Radinovich	DFL			Republican gain
11B	Tim Faust	DFL			Republican gain
12A	Jay McNamar	DFL			Republican gain
14B	Zach Dorholt	DFL			Republican gain
17A	Andrew Falk	DFL			Republican gain
17B	Mary Sawatzky	DFL			Republican gain
27A	Shannon Savick	DFL			Republican gain
36A	Mark Uglem	Republican			Hold
48A	Yvonne Selcer	DFL			Hold
49A	Ron Erhardt	DFL			Hold
49B	Paul Rosenthal	DFL			Hold
51A	Sandra Masin	DFL			Hold
51B	Laurie Halverson	DFL			Hold
56B	Will Morgan	DFL			Republican gain

Primary election results

District	Party	Candidates	Votes	%
5A	Republican	Phillip Nelson	1,289	100.00
	DFL	John Persell[19]	1,544	84.60
		Lavern Pederson[20]	281	15.40
6A	Republican	Roger Weber	977	100.00
	DFL	Carly Melin[21]	2,979	80.04
		John Finken[21]	743	19.96
7B	Republican	Travis Silvers[21]	371	57.43
		Carla Bayerl[21]	275	42.57
	DFL	Erik Simonson	1,601	100.00
12A	Republican	Jeff Backer[22]	1,777	55.55
		Nancy Taffe[23]	1,422	44.45
	DFL	Jay McNamar	1,512	100.00
30B	Republican	Eric Lucero[24]	1,363	63.99
		Kevin Kasel[25]	767	36.01
	DFL	Sharon Shimek	361	100.00
35A	Republican	Abigail Whelan[26]	1,794	80.70
		Justin Boals[27]	429	19.30
	DFL	Peter Perovich	781	100.00
44B	Republican	Ryan Rutzick	1,393	100.00
	DFL	Jon Applebaum[28]	1,053	37.58
		Tony Wagner[29]	1,016	36.26
		Jon Tollefson[28]	733	26.16
47A	Republican	Jim Nash[30]	1,406	59.93
		Bob Frey[30]	940	40.07
	DFL	Matthew Gieseke	474	100.00
48B	Republican	Jenifer Loon[31]	1,925	60.63
		Sheila Kihne[32]	1,250	39.37
	DFL	Joan Howe-Pullis	671	100.00
51A	Republican	Andrea Todd-Harlin[33]	891	55.90
		Victor Lake[34]	703	44.10
	DFL	Sandra Masin	970	100.00
55A	Independence	Derek Thury	21	100.00
	Republican	Bob Loonan[21]	721	50.60
		Bruce Mackenthun[35]	704	49.40
	DFL	Jay Whiting[36]	512	82.85
		Ronald Gray[21]	106	17.15
60B	Republican	Abdimalik Askar[37]	91	81.25
		Abdulkarim Godah[21]	21	18.75
	DFL	Phyllis Kahn[38]	2,332	54.47
		Mohamud Noor[39]	1,949	45.53
63B	Republican	Andres Hortillosa	543	100.00
	DFL	Jean Wagenius[40]	2,166	91.08
		Roger Kittelson[21]	212	8.92

Source: Minnesota Secretary of State^[41]

General election

Opinion polling

Polling firm/client	Polling period	Sample size	Margin of error	DFL	Republican	Other	Undecided
SurveyUSA/KSTP-TV[42]	October 27–30, 2014	596 LV	± 4.1%	44%	43%	5%	7%
SurveyUSA/KSTP-TV[43]	October 14–16, 2014	597 LV	± 4.1%	46%	42%	5%	6%
SurveyUSA/KSTP-TV[44]	September 30 – October 2, 2014	577 LV	± 4.2%	46%	42%	5%	7%
SurveyUSA/KSTP-TV[45]	August 19–21, 2014	600 LV	± 4.1%	43%	45%	5%	8%
Public Policy Polling[46]	June 12–15, 2014	633 RV	± 3.9%	46%	41%	—	14%
SurveyUSA/KSTP-TV[47]	June 5–9, 2014	1017 LV	± 3.1%	42%	45%	5%	8%
Public Policy Polling[48]	May 17–19, 2013	712	± 3.7%	47%	41%	—	12%

Results

Districts won

Summary of the November 4, 2014 Minnesota House of Representatives election results

Party		Candidates	Votes			Seats
			No.	%	∆pp	No.	∆No.	%
	Republican Party of Minnesota	133	958,667	50.01	4.88	72	11	53.73
	Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party	126	944,961	49.30	4.44	62	11	46.27
	Independence Party of Minnesota	4	2,846	0.15	0.35	0		0.00
	Green Party of Minnesota	2	2,001	0.10	0.10	0		0.00
	Constitution Party of Minnesota	1	1,924	0.10	0.03	0		0.00
	Write-in	N/A	6,455	0.34	0.02	0		0.00
Total			1,916,854	100.00	±0.00	134	±0	100.00
Invalid/blank votes			75,712	3.80	3.60
Turnout (out of 3,945,136 eligible voters)[49]			1,992,566	50.51	25.91
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State,[50] Minnesota Legislative Reference Library[51]

District results

District	Incumbent			Candidates
	Name	Party	First elected	Name	Party	Votes	%	Winner Party
1A	Dan Fabian	Republican	2010	Dan Fabian[52]	Republican	9,942	67.09	Republican
				Bruce Patterson[21]	DFL	4,864	32.82
1B	Deb Kiel	Republican	2010	Deb Kiel[21]	Republican	7,176	55.61	Republican
				Eric Bergeson[53]	DFL	5,721	44.34
2A	Roger Erickson	DFL	2012	Dave Hancock[21]	Republican	7,839	52.36	Republican
				Roger Erickson[54]	DFL	7,109	47.49
2B	Steve Green	Republican	2012	Steve Green[21]	Republican	8,335	57.16	Republican
				David Sobieski[24]	DFL	6,236	42.77
3A	David Dill	DFL	2002	David Dill[21]	DFL	12,067	65.55	DFL
				Eric Johnson[55]	Republican	6,297	34.21
3B	Mary Murphy	DFL	1976	Mary Murphy[21]	DFL	9,956	62.16	DFL
				Wade Flemling[56]	Republican	6,041	37.72
4A	Ben Lien	DFL	2012	Ben Lien[57]	DFL	6,713	58.34	DFL
				Brian Gramer[21]	Republican	4,772	41.47
4B	Paul Marquart	DFL	2000	Paul Marquart[57]	DFL	9,135	65.84	DFL
				Jared LaDuke[21]	Republican	4,734	34.12
5A	John Persell	DFL	2008	John Persell[41]	DFL	7,871	55.16	DFL
				Phillip Nelson[21]	Republican	6,385	44.74
5B	Tom Anzelc	DFL	2006	Tom Anzelc[19]	DFL	9,449	56.54	DFL
				Justin Eichorn[56]	Republican	7,241	43.33
6A	Carly Melin	DFL	2011*	Carly Melin[58]	DFL	11,257	69.38	DFL
				Roger Weber[56]	Republican	4,930	30.39
6B	Jason Metsa	DFL	2012	Jason Metsa[21]	DFL	11,363	64.11	DFL
				Matt Matasich[21]	Republican	6,334	35.73
7A	Tom Huntley‡	DFL	1992	Jennifer Schultz[59]	DFL	9,658	62.11	DFL
				Becky Hall[59]	Republican	5,175	33.28
				Kristine Osbakken[21]	Green	693	4.46
7B	Erik Simonson	DFL	2012	Erik Simonson[60]	DFL	9,435	71.05	DFL
				Travis Silvers[41]	Republican	3,803	28.64
8A	Bud Nornes	Republican	1996	Bud Nornes[61]	Republican	9,739	64.69	Republican
				Jim Miltich[62]	DFL	5,303	35.22
8B	Mary Franson	Republican	2010	Mary Franson[63]	Republican	9,270	58.41	Republican
				Jay Sieling[62]	DFL	6,565	41.36
9A	Mark Anderson	Republican	2012	Mark Anderson[64]	Republican	9,336	63.89	Republican
				Dan Bye[65]	DFL	5,263	36.02
9B	Ron Kresha	Republican	2012	Ron Kresha[64]	Republican	8,449	56.42	Republican
				Al Doty[66]	DFL	6,518	43.53
10A	John Ward	DFL	2006	Josh Heintzeman[67]	Republican	8,646	53.37	Republican
				John Ward[68]	DFL	7,539	46.54
10B	Joe Radinovich	DFL	2012	Dale Lueck[69]	Republican	9,209	51.86	Republican
				Joe Radinovich[70]	DFL	8,523	48.00
11A	Mike Sundin	DFL	2012	Mike Sundin[71]	DFL	9,493	62.35	DFL
				Tim Hafvenstein[21]	Republican	5,717	37.55
11B	Tim Faust	DFL	2006, 2012†	Jason Rarick[34]	Republican	7,545	53.67	Republican
				Tim Faust[40]	DFL	6,488	46.15
12A	Jay McNamar	DFL	2012	Jeff Backer[41]	Republican	8,725	51.85	Republican
				Jay McNamar[72]	DFL	8,065	47.93
12B	Paul Anderson	Republican	2008	Paul Anderson[73]	Republican	9,920	67.84	Republican
				Gordy Wagner[74]	DFL	4,694	32.10
13A	Jeff Howe	Republican	2012	Jeff Howe[75]	Republican	8,562	60.51	Republican
				Emily Jensen[76]	DFL	5,572	39.38
13B	Tim O'Driscoll	Republican	2010	Tim O'Driscoll[75]	Republican	11,284	97.48	Republican
14A	Tama Theis	Republican	2013*	Tama Theis[77]	Republican	7,292	54.90	Republican
				Dan Wolgamott[78]	DFL	5,972	44.96
14B	Zach Dorholt	DFL	2012	Jim Knoblach[79]	Republican	5,674	50.15	Republican
				Zach Dorholt[80]	DFL	5,605	49.54
15A	Sondra Erickson	Republican	1998*, 2010†	Sondra Erickson[81]	Republican	8,348	63.01	Republican
				Jim Rittenour[75]	DFL	4,876	36.80
15B	Jim Newberger	Republican	2012	Jim Newberger[81]	Republican	9,166	63.93	Republican
				Brian Johnson[82]	DFL	5,154	35.95
16A	Chris Swedzinski	Republican	2010	Chris Swedzinski[83]	Republican	8,642	61.72	Republican
				Laurie Driessen[84]	DFL	5,355	38.24
16B	Paul Torkelson	Republican	2008	Paul Torkelson[85]	Republican	9,053	64.94	Republican
				James Kanne[86]	DFL	4,872	34.95
17A	Andrew Falk	DFL	2008	Tim Miller[87]	Republican	8,453	55.37	Republican
				Andrew Falk[21]	DFL	6,789	44.47
17B	Mary Sawatzky	DFL	2012	Dave Baker[88]	Republican	7,807	50.66	Republican
				Mary Sawatzky[21]	DFL	7,593	49.27
18A	Dean Urdahl	Republican	2002	Dean Urdahl[89]	Republican	9,965	67.22	Republican
				Steven Schiroo[21]	DFL	4,808	32.43
18B	Glenn Gruenhagen	Republican	2010	Glenn Gruenhagen[90]	Republican	8,801	63.94	Republican
				John Lipke[21]	DFL	4,939	35.88
19A	Clark Johnson	DFL	2013*	Clark Johnson[91]	DFL	7,458	54.08	DFL
				Kim Spears[92]	Republican	6,313	45.78
19B	Kathy Brynaert‡	DFL	2006	Jack Considine[93]	DFL	6,258	55.96	DFL
				David Kruse[94]	Republican	4,905	43.87
20A	Kelby Woodard‡	Republican	2010	Bob Vogel[95]	Republican	8,836	64.29	Republican
				Thomas Lofgren[21]	DFL	4,881	35.52
20B	David Bly	DFL	2006, 2012†	David Bly[96]	DFL	8,300	57.97	DFL
				Dan Matejcek[97]	Republican	5,985	41.80
21A	Tim Kelly	Republican	2008	Tim Kelly[56]	Republican	9,204	62.17	Republican
				Lynn Schoen[98]	DFL	5,593	37.78
21B	Steve Drazkowski	Republican	2007*	Steve Drazkowski[21]	Republican	9,075	63.33	Republican
				M.A. Schneider[21]	DFL	5,213	36.38
22A	Joe Schomacker	Republican	2010	Joe Schomacker[21]	Republican	9,779	66.71	Republican
				Diane Slyter[99]	DFL	4,868	33.21
22B	Rod Hamilton	Republican	2004	Rod Hamilton[21]	Republican	8,243	66.19	Republican
				Cheryl Avenel-Navara[21]	DFL	4,200	33.72
23A	Bob Gunther	Republican	1995*	Bob Gunther[21]	Republican	9,232	61.66	Republican
				Pat Bacon[21]	DFL	5,735	38.30
23B	Tony Cornish	Republican	2002	Tony Cornish[56]	Republican	11,339	96.11	Republican
24A	John Petersburg	Republican	2012	John Petersburg[100]	Republican	7,202	54.73	Republican
				Beverly Cashman[21]	DFL	5,949	45.21
24B	Patti Fritz	DFL	2004	Brian Daniels[97]	Republican	6,163	50.85	Republican
				Patti Fritz[40]	DFL	5,942	49.02
25A	Duane Quam	Republican	2010	Duane Quam[101]	Republican	10,970	96.24	Republican
25B	Kim Norton	DFL	2006	Kim Norton[21]	DFL	9,844	94.91	DFL
26A	Tina Liebling	DFL	2004	Tina Liebling[40]	DFL	6,244	55.23	DFL
				Breanna Bly[102]	Republican	5,050	44.67
26B	Mike Benson‡	Republican	2010	Nels Pierson[8]	Republican	9,251	59.85	Republican
				Richard Wright[103]	DFL	6,188	40.03
27A	Shannon Savick	DFL	2012	Peggy Bennett[104]	Republican	8,155	53.04	Republican
				Shannon Savick[105]	DFL	6,139	39.93
				Thomas Price[98]	Independence	1,066	6.93
27B	Jeanne Poppe	DFL	2004	Jeanne Poppe[40]	DFL	6,498	54.10	DFL
				Dennis Schminke[106]	Republican	5,501	45.80
28A	Gene Pelowski	DFL	1986	Gene Pelowski[40]	DFL	7,279	62.70	DFL
				Lynae Hahn[21]	Republican	4,307	37.10
28B	Greg Davids	Republican	1991*, 2008†	Greg Davids[107]	Republican	9,013	55.88	Republican
				Jon Pieper[108]	DFL	7,090	43.96
29A	Joe McDonald	Republican	2010	Joe McDonald[109]	Republican	11,839	96.80	Republican
29B	Marion O'Neill	Republican	2012	Marion O'Neill[109]	Republican	10,196	96.77	Republican
30A	Nick Zerwas	Republican	2012	Nick Zerwas[110]	Republican	9,349	68.51	Republican
				Brenden Ellingboe[111]	DFL	4,279	31.35
30B	David FitzSimmons‡	Republican	2012	Eric Lucero[41]	Republican	9,005	67.75	Republican
				Sharon Shimek[111]	DFL	4,256	32.02
31A	Kurt Daudt	Republican	2010	Kurt Daudt[9]	Republican	10,363	96.67	Republican
31B	Tom Hackbarth	Republican	1994, 1998†	Tom Hackbarth[112]	Republican	9,726	64.47	Republican
				JD Holmquist[113]	DFL	5,339	35.39
32A	Brian Johnson	Republican	2012	Brian Johnson[114]	Republican	8,006	57.48	Republican
				Paul Gammel[115]	DFL	5,907	42.41
32B	Bob Barrett	Republican	2010	Bob Barrett[56]	Republican	8,459	55.73	Republican
				Laurie Warner[115]	DFL	6,707	44.19
33A	Jerry Hertaus	Republican	2012	Jerry Hertaus[116]	Republican	12,003	65.70	Republican
				Todd Mikkelson[116]	DFL	6,246	34.19
33B	Cindy Pugh	Republican	2012	Cindy Pugh[117]	Republican	10,934	61.22	Republican
				Paul Alegi[21]	DFL	6,911	38.69
34A	Joyce Peppin	Republican	2004	Joyce Peppin[118]	Republican	12,411	97.05	Republican
34B	Kurt Zellers‡	Republican	2003*	Dennis Smith[119]	Republican	9,016	56.36	Republican
				David Hoden[21]	DFL	6,965	43.54
35A	Jim Abeler‡	Republican	1998	Abigail Whelan[41]	Republican	7,808	59.95	Republican
				Peter Perovich[120]	DFL	5,192	39.86
35B	Peggy Scott	Republican	2008	Peggy Scott[21]	Republican	10,034	65.97	Republican
				Sam Beard[21]	DFL	5,162	33.94
36A	Mark Uglem	Republican	2012	Mark Uglem[121]	Republican	8,080	58.95	Republican
				Jefferson Fietek[122]	DFL	5,608	40.92
36B	Melissa Hortman	DFL	2004	Melissa Hortman[40]	DFL	7,407	51.90	DFL
				Peter Crema[123]	Republican	6,851	48.00
37A	Jerry Newton	DFL	2008, 2012†	Jerry Newton[124]	DFL	6,934	52.45	DFL
				Mandy Benz[125]	Republican	6,275	47.46
37B	Tim Sanders	Republican	2008	Tim Sanders[56]	Republican	7,602	55.40	Republican
				Susan Witt[126]	DFL	6,111	44.54
38A	Linda Runbeck	Republican	1989*, 2010†	Linda Runbeck[127]	Republican	9,213	62.19	Republican
				Patrick Davern[128]	DFL	5,586	37.71
38B	Matt Dean	Republican	2004	Matt Dean[123]	Republican	9,529	56.07	Republican
				Greg Pariseau[128]	DFL	7,444	43.80
39A	Bob Dettmer	Republican	2006	Bob Dettmer[129]	Republican	9,730	58.02	Republican
				Tim Stender[40]	DFL	7,028	41.91
39B	Kathy Lohmer	Republican	2010	Kathy Lohmer[130]	Republican	9,531	54.56	Republican
				Tom DeGree[131]	DFL	7,926	45.37
40A	Mike Nelson	DFL	2002	Mike Nelson[40]	DFL	5,711	64.85	DFL
				Chuck Sutphen[21]	Republican	3,077	34.94
40B	Debra Hilstrom	DFL	2000	Debra Hilstrom[21]	DFL	6,778	67.36	DFL
				Mali Marvin[132]	Republican	3,265	32.45
41A	Connie Bernardy	DFL	2000, 2012†	Connie Bernardy[21]	DFL	8,265	60.16	DFL
				Jeff Phillips[132]	Republican	5,451	39.68
41B	Carolyn Laine	DFL	2006	Carolyn Laine[21]	DFL	8,322	57.38	DFL
				Camden Pike[133]	Republican	4,248	29.29
				Tim Utz[21]	Constitution	1,924	13.27
42A	Barb Yarusso	DFL	2012	Barb Yarusso[40]	DFL	8,766	50.55	DFL
				Randy Jessup[134]	Republican	8,546	49.28
42B	Jason Isaacson	DFL	2012	Jason Isaacson[40]	DFL	8,814	52.30	DFL
				Heidi Gunderson[123]	Republican	8,014	47.55
43A	Peter Fischer	DFL	2012	Peter Fischer[40]	DFL	8,314	50.64	DFL
				Stacey Stout[135]	Republican	8,068	49.14
43B	Leon Lillie	DFL	2004	Leon Lillie[40]	DFL	7,891	58.08	DFL
				Justice Whitethorn[21]	Republican	5,672	41.75
44A	Sarah Anderson	Republican	2006	Sarah Anderson[136]	Republican	9,377	55.51	Republican
				Audrey Britton[137]	DFL	7,504	44.43
44B	John Benson‡	DFL	2006	Jon Applebaum[41]	DFL	9,507	51.30	DFL
				Ryan Rutzick[136]	Republican	8,981	48.46
45A	Lyndon Carlson	DFL	1972	Lyndon Carlson[40]	DFL	7,988	56.52	DFL
				Richard Lieberman[138]	Republican	6,117	43.28
45B	Mike Freiberg	DFL	2012	Mike Freiberg[40]	DFL	10,750	66.94	DFL
				Alma Wetzker[132]	Republican	5,281	32.89
46A	Ryan Winkler	DFL	2006	Ryan Winkler[40]	DFL	10,666	66.17	DFL
				Timothy Manthey[21]	Republican	5,425	33.66
46B	Steve Simon‡	DFL	2004	Cheryl Youakim[139]	DFL	9,525	68.50	DFL
				Bryan Bjornson[21]	Republican	4,353	31.30
47A	Ernie Leidiger‡	Republican	2010	Jim Nash[140]	Republican	10,934	67.63	Republican
				Matthew Gieseke[21]	DFL	5,186	32.08
47B	Joe Hoppe	Republican	2002	Joe Hoppe[141]	Republican	11,340	97.18	Republican
48A	Yvonne Selcer	DFL	2012	Yvonne Selcer[142]	DFL	9,606	50.04	DFL
				Kirk Stensrud[143]	Republican	9,565	49.83
48B	Jenifer Loon	Republican	2008	Jenifer Loon[144]	Republican	10,294	64.42	Republican
				Joan Howe-Pullis[145]	DFL	5,661	35.43
49A	Ron Erhardt	DFL	1990, 2012†	Ron Erhardt[146]	DFL	10,206	51.38	DFL
				Dario Anselmo[147]	Republican	9,645	48.55
49B	Paul Rosenthal	DFL	2008, 2012†	Paul Rosenthal[148]	DFL	10,171	52.80	DFL
				Barb Sutter[149]	Republican	9,075	47.11
50A	Linda Slocum	DFL	2006	Linda Slocum[40]	DFL	8,260	64.72	DFL
				Dean Mumbleau[21]	Republican	4,481	35.11
50B	Ann Lenczewski	DFL	1998	Ann Lenczewski[150]	DFL	10,060	65.60	DFL
				Zavier Bicott[21]	Republican	5,251	34.24
51A	Sandra Masin	DFL	2006, 2012†	Sandra Masin[151]	DFL	7,262	51.47	DFL
				Andrea Todd-Harlin[41]	Republican	6,821	48.34
51B	Laurie Halverson	DFL	2012	Laurie Halverson[152]	DFL	8,757	51.09	DFL
				Jen Wilson[153]	Republican	8,366	48.80
52A	Rick Hansen	DFL	2004	Rick Hansen[40]	DFL	9,777	59.38	DFL
				Joe Blum[135]	Republican	6,661	40.46
52B	Joe Atkins	DFL	2002	Joe Atkins[40]	DFL	9,831	64.47	DFL
				Don Lee[21]	Republican	5,405	35.45
53A	JoAnn Ward	DFL	2012	JoAnn Ward[154]	DFL	8,420	58.36	DFL
				Lukas Czech[155]	Republican	5,983	41.47
53B	Andrea Kieffer‡	Republican	2010	Kelly Fenton[156]	Republican	8,634	56.93	Republican
				Kay Hendrickson[157]	DFL	6,515	42.96
54A	Dan Schoen	DFL	2012	Dan Schoen[158]	DFL	7,047	55.52	DFL
				Matthew Kowalski[158]	Republican	5,629	44.35
54B	Denny McNamara	Republican	2002	Denny McNamara[158]	Republican	8,853	60.54	Republican
				Donald Slaten[21]	DFL	5,750	39.32
55A	Mike Beard‡	Republican	2002	Bob Loonan[159]	Republican	6,439	56.75	Republican
				Jay Whiting[159]	DFL	4,398	38.76
				Derek Thury[21]	Independence	500	4.41
55B	Tony Albright	Republican	2012	Tony Albright[83]	Republican	9,278	61.00	Republican
				Kevin Burkart[160]	DFL	5,422	35.65
				Josh Ondich[21]	Independence	507	3.33
56A	Pam Myhra‡	Republican	2010	Drew Christensen[161]	Republican	7,498	55.81	Republican
				Dan Kimmel[162]	DFL	5,913	44.01
56B	Will Morgan	DFL	2006, 2012†	Roz Peterson[163]	Republican	7,856	53.99	Republican
				Will Morgan[164]	DFL	6,669	45.83
57A	Tara Mack	Republican	2008	Tara Mack[21]	Republican	8,347	58.44	Republican
				Bruce Folken[165]	DFL	5,931	41.52
57B	Anna Wills	Republican	2012	Anna Wills[166]	Republican	9,083	58.40	Republican
				Denise Packard[166]	DFL	6,458	41.53
58A	Mary Liz Holberg‡	Republican	1998	Jon Koznick[167]	Republican	8,021	55.28	Republican
				Amy Willingham[168]	DFL	6,476	44.63
58B	Pat Garofalo	Republican	2004	Pat Garofalo[169]	Republican	8,878	63.85	Republican
				Marla Vagts[170]	DFL	5,008	36.02
59A	Joe Mullery	DFL	1996	Joe Mullery[40]	DFL	7,358	81.98	DFL
				Fred Statema[21]	Republican	1,547	17.24
59B	Raymond Dehn	DFL	2012	Raymond Dehn[40]	DFL	8,671	78.10	DFL
				Margaret Martin[21]	Republican	2,378	21.42
60A	Diane Loeffler	DFL	2004	Diane Loeffler[40]	DFL	11,819	82.42	DFL
				Brent Millsop[132]	Republican	2,472	17.24
60B	Phyllis Kahn	DFL	1972	Phyllis Kahn[171]	DFL	7,908	76.89	DFL
				Abdimalik Askar[41]	Republican	2,298	22.34
61A	Frank Hornstein	DFL	2002	Frank Hornstein[40]	DFL	14,239	80.79	DFL
				Frank Taylor[132]	Republican	3,341	18.96
61B	Paul Thissen	DFL	2002	Paul Thissen[40]	DFL	14,740	80.94	DFL
				Tom Gallagher[132]	Republican	3,445	18.92
62A	Karen Clark	DFL	1980	Karen Clark[172]	DFL	6,632	82.13	DFL
				Yolandita Colon[21]	Independence	773	9.57
				Bruce Lundeen[21]	Republican	650	8.05
62B	Susan Allen	DFL	2012*	Susan Allen[172]	DFL	11,495	88.66	DFL
				Julie Hanson[21]	Republican	1,417	10.93
63A	Jim Davnie	DFL	2000	Jim Davnie[40]	DFL	15,026	86.44	DFL
				Kyle Bragg[21]	Republican	2,297	13.21
63B	Jean Wagenius	DFL	1986	Jean Wagenius[41]	DFL	12,447	75.06	DFL
				Andres Hortillosa[21]	Republican	4,086	24.64
64A	Erin Murphy	DFL	2006	Erin Murphy[173]	DFL	13,193	81.21	DFL
				Andrew Brown[21]	Republican	3,009	18.52
64B	Michael Paymar‡	DFL	1996	Dave Pinto[174]	DFL	13,356	73.49	DFL
				Daniel Surman[21]	Republican	4,771	26.25
65A	Rena Moran	DFL	2010	Rena Moran[175]	DFL	6,626	71.20	DFL
				Anthony Meschke[21]	Republican	1,358	14.59
				Lena Buggs[21]	Green	1,308	14.06
65B	Carlos Mariani	DFL	1990	Carlos Mariani[175]	DFL	8,590	77.54	DFL
				Tony Athen[176]	Republican	2,427	21.91
66A	Alice Hausman	DFL	1989*	Alice Hausman[177]	DFL	11,100	67.09	DFL
				Jon Heyer[21]	Republican	5,421	32.76
66B	John Lesch	DFL	2002	John Lesch[177]	DFL	7,047	76.41	DFL
				Lizz Paulson[21]	Republican	2,127	23.06
67A	Tim Mahoney	DFL	1998	Tim Mahoney[40]	DFL	5,400	72.43	DFL
				Andrew Livingston[21]	Republican	2,032	27.26
67B	Sheldon Johnson	DFL	2000	Sheldon Johnson[40]	DFL	6,222	72.82	DFL
				John Quinn[178]	Republican	2,289	26.79

*Elected in a special election.^[179]

†Elected to non-consecutive terms.^[180]

‡Retiring; not seeking re-election.

Withdrawn candidates

The following sought election but later withdrew and did not file an affidavit of candidacy.

District	Candidates	Party
7A	Gary Anderson[59]	DFL
	Donna Bergstrom[59]	Republican
	Pete Johnson[59]	DFL
	Linda Krug[59]	DFL
8B	Sue Nelson[181]	Republican
11A	James Hamilton[182]	Republican
14B	Paul Brandmire[77]	Republican
17A	Gary Nelson[183]	Republican
19B	Karen Foreman[184]	DFL
20A	Cary Coop[185]	DFL
	Benjamin Rohloff[186]	Republican
24A	Craig Brenden[187]	DFL
24B	Deb Salonek[188]	Libertarian
27A	Milan Hart[189]	Republican
31A	Mark Korin[190]	Republican
34B	Dean Henke[191]	Republican
35A	Don Huizenga[192]	Republican
	Jason Tossey[193]	Republican
37A	Chris Stolarzyk[34]	Republican
42B	Michelle Manke[24]	Republican
46B	Eric Margolis[194]	DFL
47A	Keith Pickering[40]	DFL
49A	Polly Peterson Bowles[195]	Republican
64B	Matthew Bergeron[196]	DFL
	Greta Bergstrom[197]	DFL
	Beth Fraser[197]	DFL
	Matt Freeman[197]	DFL
	Melanie McMahon[197]	DFL
	Gloria Zaiger[197]	DFL

Seats changing parties

Seat gains and holds by party

Party	Incumbent	District	First elected	Defeated by	Party
DFL	Zach Dorholt	14B	2012	Jim Knoblach	Republican
	Roger Erickson	2A	2012	Dave Hancock	Republican
	Andrew Falk	17A	2008	Tim Miller	Republican
	Tim Faust	11B	2006, 2012*	Jason Rarick	Republican
	Patti Fritz	24B	2004	Brian Daniels	Republican
	Jay McNamar	12A	2012	Jeff Backer	Republican
	Will Morgan	56B	2006, 2012*	Roz Peterson	Republican
	Joe Radinovich	10B	2012	Dale Lueck	Republican
	Shannon Savick	27A	2012	Peggy Bennett	Republican
	Mary Sawatzky	17B	2012	Dave Baker	Republican
	John Ward	10A	2006	Josh Heintzeman	Republican

*Elected to non-consecutive terms.

Analysis

The Republicans made most of their gains in rural districts, continuing a trend of rural districts leaning more towards the Republicans and suburban districts leaning more towards the DFL.^[198] Of the 11 districts they gained from the DFL, 10 are outside of the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Seven rural DFL incumbents who voted for legalizing same-sex marriage lost their seats, despite their districts having supported a proposed constitutional amendment in 2012 to ban it. Yet two rural DFL incumbents who voted against legalizing same-sex marriage also lost their seats.^[199]

Split-ticket voters determined the outcome of several key races. Nearly 450,000 voters chose one party's candidate for a House seat, but then switched to pick a different party's candidate for the United States Senate or governor. Eight of the 11 districts the DFL lost featured at least some ticket splitting between DFL candidate for governor Mark Dayton and/or U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken and the Republican House candidate. Nearly all of the DFL candidates who lost came from districts in which many voters supported Republicans in previous elections, including candidates for governor Republican Tom Emmer over Democrat Mark Dayton in 2010 and presidential candidates Republican Mitt Romney over Democratic president Barack Obama in 2012.^[200]

Outside and party spending reached large levels in several House districts compared to what has been spent in the past as Republican groups focused their attention on the House rather than statewide races. In some races, spending reached $500,000.^[199]

Turnout was the lowest in more than 20 years, with slightly over 50 percent of eligible voters having voted. Turnout across the state was lower compared to 2010. It was slightly lower in the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs, helping suburban DFL candidates win in those areas. In rural Minnesota, turnout was down by about 10 percentage points since 2010. Much of the drop-off was among DFL voters, while those who did vote in those districts were likely over the age of 45.^[201]

See also

• Minnesota Senate election, 2012
• Minnesota gubernatorial election, 2014
• Minnesota elections, 2014