A special election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on February 12, 2013, to elect a new representative for District 14A in the Minnesota House of Representatives, caused by the resignation of Representative Steve Gottwalt on January 7, 2013. A primary election was not held. The election coincided with the District 19A special election. Tama Theis, the Republican Party of Minnesota nominee, won the special election.
Background On January 3, 2013, Representative Steve Gottwalt announced that he would resign to take a job as the director of state legislative policy for the Center for Diagnostic Imaging. He resigned on January 7, 2013, the day before the beginning of the new session of the Minnesota Legislature.
Candidates
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party
Nominee Joanne Dorsher (party endorsed), former St. Cloud school board member
Declined Jerry McCarter, former candidate for the Minnesota Senate
Republican Party of Minnesota
Nominee Tama Theis (party endorsed), small business owner
Withdrawn Scott Mac Hardy, Iraq War veteran James Parmele John Severson, former St. Cloud city council member
Independence Party of Minnesota
Nominee Todd McKee, small business owner; part-time truck driver
Results Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % ∆pp District 14A special election, 2013Resignation of Steve GottwaltVoters: 4,898 (−74.29%) Republican holdPlurality: 579 (11.82 pp) +3.72 Tama Theis Republican 2,670 54.51 −5.39 Joanne Dorsher DFL 2,091 42.69 −3.11 Todd McKee Independence 130 2.65 N/A Write-in N/A 7 0.14 −0.15
Previous election results Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2012Redrawn districtVoters: 19,051 Republican winPlurality: 1,543 (8.10 pp) Steve Gottwalt Republican 10,269 53.90 Anne Nolan DFL 8,726 45.80 Write-in N/A 56 0.29
References
External links Information on the special election at the Minnesota Secretary of State website
Official campaign websites Joanne Dorsher Tama Theis