WASHINGTON (AP) — Two special elections Tuesday in heavily Democratic Twin Cities-area state legislative districts will decide control of the Minnesota House of…
Two special elections Tuesday in heavily Democratic Twin Cities-area state legislative districts will decide control of the Minnesota House of Representatives for the third time in less than a year.
Republicans hold a 67-65 advantage in the chamber after two Democratic representatives were elected to other offices in November. The chamber has operated under a power-sharing agreement between the two parties for much of the last year.
The contests take place just days after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man in Minneapolis, sparking protests and renewed calls for federal immigration officers to leave the state. Earlier in January, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a Minneapolis woman as part of an ongoing federal immigration crackdown.
In District 47A, Democrat Shelley Buck is the only candidate on the ballot, although voters have the option to vote for a write-in candidate. Buck is a former environmental nonprofit executive and former president of the Prairie Island Tribal Council.
The district is east of St. Paul. It falls mostly within Washington County but includes a portion of Ramsey County. In 2024, both Democratic state Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris carried District 47A with about 61% of the vote in their races. Hemmingsen-Jaeger won a special election to the state Senate in 2025.
In District 64A, the nominees are Democrat Meg Luger-Nikolai and Republican Dan Walsh. Luger-Nikolai is a labor attorney who represented a statewide teachers union. Walsh runs a real estate property management company and has worked in cybersecurity and tech sales.
