A special election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on February 12, 2013, to elect a new representative for District 19A in the Minnesota House of Representatives, caused by the resignation of Representative Terry Morrow on January 7, 2013. A primary election was held on January 29, 2013. The election coincided with the District 14A special election. Clark Johnson, the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) nominee, won the special election.
Background On December 19, 2012, Representative Terry Morrow announced he would resign to join the Uniform Law Commission as its legislative director. 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 Clark Johnson (party endorsed), faculty member at Minnesota State University, Mankato
Withdrawn Robin Courrier, teacher; leader of local teachers' union Karl Johnson, farmer Tim Strand, Mayor of St. Peter
Republican Party of Minnesota
Nominee Allen Quist (party endorsed), 2012 Republican candidate for the 1st congressional district; two-time candidate for Governor of Minnesota; former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
Withdrawn Joel Brinker, former St. Peter city council member Jim Golgart, Le Sueur County Veterans Services officer
Independence Party of Minnesota
Nominee Tim Gieseke (party endorsed), small business owner
Primary election The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) did not endorse a candidate until after the deadline for withdrawing (January 16 at 5:00 p.m.), leaving the candidates that did not win the party endorsement unable to withdraw their candidacies, causing a primary election. The losing candidates said they would abide by the endorsement.
Election Candidate Votes % District 19A special election, 2013: DFL primary Clark Johnson 641 66.29 Karl Johnson 252 26.06 Tim Strand 51 5.27 Robin Courrier 23 2.38 District 19A special election, 2013: Republican primary Allen Quist 105 100.00 District 19A special election, 2013: Independence primary Tim Gieseke 55 100.00
Results Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % District 19A special election, 2013Resignation of Terry Morrow Voters: 4,992 (−71.76%) DFL holdPlurality: 879 (17.61 pp) Clark Johnson DFL 2,680 53.69 Allen Quist Republican 1,801 36.08 Tim Gieseke Independence 511 10.24
Previous election results Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2012Redrawn districtVoters: 17,679 DFL win Terry Morrow DFL 17,263 97.65 Write-in N/A 416 2.35
References
External links Information on the special election at the Minnesota Secretary of State website
Official campaign websites Clark Johnson Allen Quist