2022 Minnesota House of Representatives election
The 2022 Minnesota House of Representatives election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 8, 2022, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the 93rd Minnesota Legislature. A [|primary election] was held in several districts on August 9, 2022. The election coincided with the election of the other chamber of the Legislature, the Senate.
Democrats (DFL) retained all of their seats, keeping their majority of 70 out of 134 seats. This happened simultaneously with gains in the state senate, giving the DFL control of that chamber for the first time since 2012, and Governor Tim Walz winning re-election. The DFL won a trifecta in the state for the first time since 2012.
Background
As a result of the 2020 election, the DFL maintained control of the House, albeit with a reduced seat majority. Republicans maintained control of the senate, making Minnesota and Alaska the only US states with split control of the legislature.
Over the past several election cycles, the DFL had lost ground in Iron Range districts to the Republicans. The first sign was the surprise defeat of long-time DFLer Jim Oberstar to Tea Party Republican Chip Cravaack in the [2010 United States Minnesota House of Representatives|House of Representatives elections in Minnesota|2010 midterm election], but it was the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections that saw the largest swings. Iron Range DFL House candidates have narrowly won their seats, but typically by only small margins in districts that used to be safe DFL. For example, DFL Rep. Julie Sandstede of Hibbing was elected by just 30 votes, after winning by more than 4,300 votes in 2018. The five tossup districts which are a part of the Iron Range–3A, 3B, 7A, 7B, and 11A–may determine which party controls the chamber in future elections.
Electoral system
The 134 members of the House of Representatives were elected from single-member districts via first-past-the-post voting for two-year terms. Contested nominations of recognized major parties for each district were determined by an open primary election. Minor party and independent candidates were nominated by petition. Write-in candidates were required to file a request with the secretary of state's office for votes for them to be counted. The filing period lasted from May 17, 2022, until May 31, 2022.
Retiring members
DFL
- Paul Marquart, 4B
- Jennifer Schultz, 7A
- Mike Sundin, 11A
- Todd Lippert, 20B
- Liz Boldon, 25B
- Kelly Morrison, 33B
- Ami Wazlawik, 38B
- Shelly Christensen, 39B
- Connie Bernardy, 41A
- Ryan Winkler, 46A
- Tou Xiong, 53A
- Steve Sandell, 53B
- Jim Davnie, 63A
- Rena Moran, 65A
- Carlos Mariani, 65B
- Alice Hausman, 66A
Republican
- Steve Green, 2B
- Jordan Rasmusson, 8A
- John Poston, 9A
- Dale Lueck, 10B
- Tama Theis, 14A
- Sondra Erickson, 15A
- Tim Miller, 17A
- Glenn Gruenhagen, 18B
- Barb Haley, 21A
- Steve Drazkowski, 21B
- Rod Hamilton, 22B
- Jeremy Munson, 23B
- Nels Pierson, 26B
- Eric Lucero, 30B
- Cal Bahr, 31B
- Bob Dettmer, 39A
- Tony Jurgens, 54B
- Tony Albright, 55B
Results
Close races
There were 25 districts where the margin of victory was under 10%:
A primary election was held in 20 districts to nominate Republican and DFL candidates. Twelve Republican nominations and eight DFL nominations were contested. Eight incumbents were opposed for their party's nomination. DFL incumbents John Thompson and Andrew Carlson, who was running against fellow incumbent Steve Elkins, were not renominated.
District results
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State
District 1A
Incumbent Republican John Burkel was first elected in 2020. District 1A is located in northwestern Minnesota covering the northernmost portions of the Red River Valley. Large cities in the district are Roseau, Thief River Falls, and Warren.
District 1B
Incumbent Republican Debra Kiel was first elected in 2010. District 1B is located in northwestern Minnesota and includes East Grand Forks, Crookston, and Red Lake Falls.
District 2A
Incumbent Republican Matt Grossell was first elected in 2016. District 2A is located in northwestern Minnesota, stretching as far south as Bemidji and as far north as the Northwest Angle.
District 2B
Incumbent Republican Matt Bliss was elected in the 2020 election. Bliss previously represented District 5A from 2017 to 2019, but lost to John Persell by 11 votes in the 2018 election. District 2B is located in north-central Minnesota.
District 3A
Incumbent DFLer Rob Ecklund was first elected in a 2015 special election. District 3A is located in northeastern Minnesota, covering large portions of the Iron Range and the northern Arrowhead Region. Cities in the 3A district include International Falls, Ely, Silver Bay, and Grand Marais. It is the largest house district by area.
District 3B
Incumbent DFLer Mary Murphy was first elected in 1976. She had represented District 3B since 2012. District 3B surrounds the city of Duluth.
District 4A
Incumbent DFLer Heather Keeler was first elected in the 2020 election. District 4A covers most of the city of Moorhead.
District 4B
Incumbent DFLer Paul Marquart, who was first elected in 2000, chose not run for re-election. The district, located in northwestern Minnesota, surrounds the city of Moorhead and includes Glyndon and Detroit Lakes.
District 5A
District 5A is located in north central Minnesota. The largest city in 5A is Park Rapids.
District 5B
District 5B is the only district in which the Independence Party of Minnesota fielded a candidate. The district is located in central Minnesota and covers all of Todd County plus portions of Morrison, Cass, and Wadena counties.
District 6A
District 6A, located in north central Minnesota, stretches from Grand Rapids to Garrison.
District 6B
Incumbent Republican Josh Heintzeman was first elected in 2014. District 6B's largest city is Brainerd.
District 7A
Newly created District 7A had two incumbents: DFLer Julie Sandstede, first elected in 2016, and Republican Spencer Igo, first elected in 2020.
District 7B
Incumbent DFLer Dave Lislegard was first elected in 2018.
District 8A
Incumbent DFLer Liz Olson was first elected in 2018. District 8A covers the southwestern portion of the city of Duluth.
District 8B
Incumbent DFLer Jennifer Schultz, who was first elected in 2014, instead ran for Minnesota's 8th congressional district.
District 9A
Incumbent Republican Jeff Backer was first elected in 2014.
District 13A
District 17A
District 21A
District 25A
District 28B
Incumbent Republican Anne Neu Brindley ran for re-election. District 28B covers the southern portion of Chisago County and includes the cities of Lindström, Chisago City, and Stacy, as well as the eastern part of North Branch.
District 32B
District 36B
District 40B
District 44B
District 48B
District 50B
In the [|DFL primary] for District 50B, incumbent Steve Elkins defeated fellow incumbent Andrew Carlson with over 60% of the vote.
District 54B
District 58B
District 60A
Incumbent Sydney Jordan was first elected in a 2020 special election caused by the death of DFL member Diane Loeffler.
District 64A
District 66A
District 66A includes parts of north eastern Saint Paul as well as Roseville, Falcon Heights, and Lauderdale. Incumbent DFLer Alice Hausman retired. Leigh Finke, the DFL endorsed candidate, became the first transgender member of the Minnesota Legislature.
District 66B
House District 66B covers north central Saint Paul. Incumbent Athena Hollins ran for re-election.
District 67A
District 67A includes the northeast corner of Saint Paul. The incumbent John Thompson failed to secure the DFL endorsement after a string of scandals. He received only 11% of the vote in the primary election, losing to Liz Lee. Following the primary, the Republican nominee, Beverly Peterson, died, and Scott Hesselgrave was chosen as the new nominee.
District 67B
District 67B covers the easternmost portion of Saint Paul. Incumbent Jay Xiong ran for re-election. He was first elected in 2018.