Minnesota 2012 Election Results

Minnesota held its general election on November 6, 2012, deciding 201 legislative seats. Control shifted: the Senate moved from a 37-30 Republican majority to a 39-28 Democratic majority; the House moved from a 72-62 Republican majority to a 73-61 Democratic majority.

Highlights

• Winning both chambers gave the DFL, Minnesota's Democratic Party, full control of state government alongside Gov. Mark Dayton (D), who was not on the ballot. It was the first time in 22 years Democrats held all three, two years after Republicans won both chambers for the first time in nearly four decades.
• Both minority leaders moved up: House DFLers picked Rep. Paul Thissen (D) for speaker of a 73-61 House, and Senate DFLers chose Sen. Tom Bakk (D) as majority leader of a 39-28 Senate. The DFL-aligned Alliance for a Better Minnesota spent at least $1.1 million on 32 legislative races and lost only six.
• Voters rejected both proposed constitutional amendments. Amendment 1, a ban on same-sex marriage, failed after similar measures had passed in 30 states, and Amendment 2, a photo ID requirement for voting, failed after appearing poised to pass for months.
• On the first post-census maps, 16 incumbents lost, all Republicans. Redistricting paired several with DFL incumbents, and the DFL member won each time:
  • Sen. Tom Saxhaug (D) beat Sen. John Carlson (R) in Senate District 5.
  • Sen. Lyle Koenen (D) beat Sen. Joe Gimse (R) by about 11 points in Senate District 17.
  • Rep. John Persell (D) beat Rep. Larry Howes (R) in House 5A, and Rep. Tom Anzelc (D) beat Rep. Carolyn McElfatrick (R) in 5B.
  DFL challengers also unseated five other Republican senators, among them Ted Daley (R) in Senate District 51 and Pam Wolf (R) in District 37. Rep. Mary Franson (R) held House 8B by 12 votes over Bob Cunniff (D) after a judge ordered 35 ballots randomly canceled over a counting error.

Legislature

• House (134 seats): 61 D, 72 R, 1 other or vacant before the election, 73 D, 61 R after; control moved from Republicans to Democrats.
• Senate (67 seats): 29 D, 37 R, 1 other or vacant before the election, 39 D, 28 R after; control moved from Republicans to Democrats.

Legislative races

Ballot measures