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 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 (Democratic-Farmer-Labor, Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis, Legal Marijuana Now, and Republican) 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 (ran for Minnesota's 8th U.S. Congressional District) Mike Sundin, 11A Todd Lippert, 20B Liz Boldon, 25B (seeking Senate seat) Kelly Morrison, 33B (seeking Senate seat) Ami Wazlawik, 38B Shelly Christensen, 39B Connie Bernardy, 41A Ryan Winkler, 46A (ran for Hennepin County Attorney) Tou Xiong, 53A (seeking Senate seat) Steve Sandell, 53B Jim Davnie, 63A Rena Moran, 65A (ran for Ramsey County Commissioner) Carlos Mariani, 65B Alice Hausman, 66A
Republican Steve Green, 2B (seeking Senate seat) Jordan Rasmusson, 8A (seeking Senate seat) John Poston, 9A Dale Lueck, 10B Tama Theis, 14A (seeking Senate seat) Sondra Erickson, 15A Tim Miller, 17A Glenn Gruenhagen, 18B (seeking Senate seat) Barb Haley, 21A (seeking Senate seat) Steve Drazkowski, 21B (seeking Senate seat) Rod Hamilton, 22B Jeremy Munson, 23B (ran for Minnesota's 1st U.S. Congressional District) Nels Pierson, 26B (ran for Minnesota's 1st U.S. Congressional District) Eric Lucero, 30B (seeking Senate seat) Cal Bahr, 31B (seeking Senate seat) Bob Dettmer, 39A Tony Jurgens, 54B (seeking Senate seat) Tony Albright, 55B
Predictions SourceRankingAs of Sabato's Crystal Ball May 19, 2022CNalysisSeptember 12, 2022
Results
PartyCandidatesVotesSeats%+/−+/−%Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party1301,237,52050.91 -0.1570 052.24Republican Party of Minnesota1221,173,65948.29 +0.1264047.76Independence–Alliance Party of Minnesota14,4220.18 +0.18000Legal Marijuana Now Party43,8510.16 -0.12000Independent12,1580.08+0.08000Libertarian Party of Minnesota17850.03 +0.03000Write-inN/A8,1780.34 -0.13000Total2,430,571100N/A134N/A100Invalid/blank votesTotalRegistered voters/turnoutSource: Minnesota Secretary of State
Close races There were 25 districts where the margin of victory was under 10%:
DistrictIncumbentRetiringPartyFirst electedMargin (pp)Result2ANo Rep.20168.80Rep. hold3ANo DFL20150.07Rep. gain3BNo DFL19760.16Rep. gain7AJulie Sandstede (old 6A) Spencer Igo (old 5B)No No DFL Rep.2016 20207.56Rep. win7BNo DFL20182.34DFL hold11AYes DFL20122.45Rep. gain14AYes Rep.20131.39Rep. hold14BNo DFL20183.66DFL hold18A No Rep.20202.20DFL gain32B No Rep.20202.33DFL gain 33B Yes DFL20188.03DFL hold34ANew districtN/AN/A6.76Rep. win35AZack Stephenson (old 36A) John Heinrich (old 35A)No NoDFL Rep.2018 20184.97DFL win35BNew districtN/AN/AN/A1.35DFL win36ANew districtN/AN/AN/A2.82Rep. win36B Yes DFL 20187.10DFL hold41ANew districtN/AN/AN/A0.55Rep. win41B Yes Rep. 20162.18Rep. hold45ANew districtN/AN/AN/A6.09Rep. win47BNew districtN/AN/AN/A6.32DFL win 48B Yes Rep. 20182.00DFL gain54A No Rep. 20208.29DFL gain55A No DFL 20206.14DFL hold57BNew districtN/AN/AN/A3.33Rep. win58A Yes DFL 20189.02DFL hold
Primary elections results 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 (67A) and Andrew Carlson (50B), who was running against fellow incumbent Steve Elkins, were not renominated.
Primary results by districtDistrictPartyCandidatesVotes% 3ARepublicanRoger Skraba3,03066.73Blain Johnson1,51133.27DFL Rob Ecklund (incumbent)3,870100.0 5BRepublicanMike Wiener2,09950.48Sheldon Monson2,05949.52 6BRepublicanJosh Heintzeman (incumbent)3,13279.92 Doug Kern78720.08DFLSally Boos1,465100.0 8 ARepublicanArt Johnston1,05366.81 Doug Kern52333.19DFL Liz Olson (incumbent)3,496100.0 BRepublicanBecky Hall1,581100.0DFL Alicia Kozlowski3,61656.21 Arik Forsman2,81743.79 10ARepublicanRon Kresha (incumbent)3,57273.65 Chuck Parins1,27826.35 BRepublicanIsaac Schultz2,99758.04Blake Paulson1,71833.27John Ulrick4498.69DFLHunter Froelich751100.0 20ARepublicanPam Altendorf 2,89851.81 Jesse Johnson2,69548.19DFLLaurel Stinson 2,738100.0 21BRepublicanMarj Fogelman 2,67282.42 Jayesun Israel Sherman57017.58DFLMichael Heidelberger1,323100.0 26BRepublicanGreg Davids3,26875.91Laura H. Thorson1,03724.09 27BRepublicanKurt Daudt (incumbent)2,18973.19 Rachel Davids80226.81DFLBrad Brown793100.0 33BRepublicanMark Bishofsky 1,63759.99 Tina Riehle1,09240.01DFLJosiah Hill3,170100.0 48ARepublicanJim Nash (incumbent)1,993100.0DFL Nathan Kells70952.25 Arian Brinkmeier64847.75 50BRepublicanBeth Beebe2,206100.0DFL Steve Elkins (incumbent, old 49B)3,17961.09 Andrew Carlson (incumbent, old 50B)2,02538.91 52ARepublicanFern Smith1,408100.0DFL Liz Reyer (incumbent) 2,03760.86 Sandra Masin1,31039.14 54ARepublicanErik Mortensen (incumbent)1,47455.00 Bob Loonan1,20645.00DFLBrad Tabke1,207100.0LMN Ryan Martin15100.0 62A DFLAisha Gomez (incumbent)4,16769.44Osman Ahmed1,83430.56 65BRepublicanKevin Fjelsted602100.0DFL Maria Isa Pérez-Hedges 3,61381.71 Anna Botz80918.29 66ARepublicanTrace Johnson646100.0DFL Leigh Finke 4,03463.17 Dave Thomas2,35236.83 67ARepublicanBeverly Peterson432100.0DFL Liz Lee 2,16888.93 John Thompson (incumbent)27011.07Source: Minnesota Secretary of State
District results 1A • 1B • 2A • 2B • 3A • 3B • 4A • 4B • 5A • 5B • 6A • 6B • 7A • 7B • 8A • 8B • 9A • 9B • 10A • 10B • 11A • 11B • 12A • 12B • 13A • 13B • 14A • 14B • 15A • 15B • 16A • 16B • 17A • 17B • 18A • 18B • 19A • 19B • 20A • 20B • 21A • 21B • 22A • 22B • 23A • 23B • 24A • 24B • 25A • 25B • 26A • 26B • 27A • 27B • 28A • 28B • 29A • 29B • 30A • 30B • 31A • 31B • 32A • 32B • 33A • 33B • 34A • 34B • 35A • 35B • 36A • 36B • 37A • 37B • 38A • 38B • 39A • 39B • 40A • 40B • 41A • 41B • 42A • 42B • 43A • 43B • 44A • 44B • 45A • 45B • 46A • 46B • 47A • 47B • 48A • 48B • 49A • 49B • 50A • 50B • 51A • 51B • 52A • 52B • 53A • 53B • 54A • 54B • 55A • 55B • 56A • 56B • 57A • 57B • 58A • 58B • 59A • 59B • 60A • 60B • 61A • 61B • 62A • 62B • 63A • 63B • 64A • 64B • 65A • 65B • 66A • 66B • 67A • 67B__NOTOC__ 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 9B
District 10A
District 10B
District 11A
District 11B
District 12A
District 12B
District 13A
District 13B
District 14A
District 14B
District 15A
District 15B
District 16A
District 16B
District 17A
District 17B
District 18A
District 18B
District 19A
District 19B
District 20A
District 20B
District 21A
District 21B
District 22A
District 22B
District 23A
District 23B
District 24A
District 24B
District 25A
District 25B
District 26A
District 26B
District 27A
District 27B
District 28A
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 29A
District 29B
District 30A
District 30B
District 31A