2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota


The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the eight U.S. representatives from the state of Minnesota, one from each of the state's eight congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on August 9.
This is the last cycle where the Democratic candidate would win either the 1st or 8th district and the last cycle Republicans candidate would win either the 2nd or 3rd district.

Overview

By district

Results of the 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota by district:

District 1

Incumbent Democrat Tim Walz, who had represented the district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 54% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+1.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Tim Walz, incumbent U.S. Representative

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

General election

Finances

Campaigns
Outside Spending

District 2

Incumbent Republican John Kline, who had represented the district since 2003, announced that he would not seek re-election. He was re-elected with 56% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+2.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Democrat Angela Craig, who served as vice president of global human resources for St. Jude Medical, resigned from her position in January 2015 to challenge Lewis. Mary Lawrence, a doctor, also ran as a Democrat, but dropped out before the primary.

Candidates

Nominee

Independence primary

Candidates

Nominee

General election

Campaign

Commentators wrote that the election was "likely to be one of the most-watched congressional races in the country,", "expected to be one of the most competitive in the country", according to Roll Call newspaper, and "seen as a prime target for Democrats to flip" according to The Atlantic.
Area left-wing weekly City Pages described the campaign as resembling the 2016 presidential campaign, calling Lewis "an entrepreneur and media personality, whose blunt rhetoric is refreshingly honest to some, simply offensive to others", and describing Craig as "a tough female leader with moderate positions, ties to big business, and a penchant for pantsuits".
In May 2016, the Rothenberg and Gonzales Political Report changed its rating of the race from "pure tossup" to "tossup/tilt Democratic," with political analyst Nathan Gonzales writing that Craig "is probably to the left of the district in her ideology, but she has a good story to tell, is raising considerable money and is solid as a candidate." Other political prognosticators rated the race "Republican Toss-up", and "pure" toss-up, according to MinnPost.

Debates

  • , October 30, 2016

Results

Lewis ended up defeating Craig by several thousand votes.

Finances

Campaigns
Outside Spending

District 3

Incumbent Republican Erik Paulsen, who had represented the district since 2009, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 62% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+2.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

General election

Debates

  • , October 30, 2016

Finances

Campaigns
Outside Spending

District 4

Incumbent Democrat Betty McCollum, who had represented the district since 2001, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 61% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+11.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Betty McCollum, incumbent U.S. Representative
    Eliminated in primary
  • Steve Carlson, development consultant, attorney, Independence nominee for this seat in 2010 and 2012 and for U.S. Senate in 2014

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Greg Ryan, businessman
    Eliminated in primary
  • Gene Rechtzigel, farmer and Independent candidate for State Senate, District 53 in 1980
  • Nikolay Nikolayevich Bey, airport cleaning company supervisor

Legal Marijuana Now primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Susan Pendergast Sindt, business owner

General election

Finances

Campaigns
Outside Spending

District 5

Incumbent Democrat Keith Ellison, who had represented the district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 71% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+71.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Legal Marijuana Now primary

Candidates

Nominee

General election

Finances

Campaigns
Outside Spending

District 6

Incumbent Republican Tom Emmer, who had represented the district since 2015, ran for re-election. He was elected with 56% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+10.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Campaign

Emmer was challenged from the right by AJ Kern, who criticized his positions on immigration, education and trade. Particularly his vote for Every Student Succeeds Act and his support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. She also objected to Muslims serving in elected office.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • David Snyder, Army veteran
    Eliminated in primary
  • Judy Adams, environmental activist and candidate for this seat in 2014
  • Bob Helland, business process analyst and Independence nominee for secretary of state in 2014

General election

Finances

Campaigns
Outside Spending

District 7

Incumbent Democrat Collin Peterson, who had represented the district since 1991, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 54% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+6.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Dave Hughes, U.S. Air Force veteran
    Eliminated in primary
  • Amanda Lynn Hinson, entrepreneur, writer, and former pastor

Independence primary

Candidates

Withdrawn
  • Kevin Winge, former nonprofit corporation leader

General election

Finances

Campaigns
Outside Spending

District 8

Incumbent Democrat Rick Nolan, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 49% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+1.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

General election

Results

Though Nolan's margin of victory was too large to trigger a publicly funded automatic recount, Mills, as of late November 2016, said that he planned to request and pay for a hand recount of all votes cast in the eighth district, as is his right under law. Mills planned to cover the cost of the recount—just over $100,000— himself. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota had not seen a recount in a race for the House of Representatives since 2000, when election day totals in Minnesota's 2nd congressional district fell within the half percentage point threshold, thus triggering a state-funded recount. It is not known if Mills's request for a privately funded recount has precedent in Minnesota's electoral history, at least as it pertains to elections for the House of Representatives.