Minnesotas Hot Elections: The Legislative Elections to Watch

The battle for control over the state legislature may be the most competitive elections this fall in Minnesota. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is not actively campaigning in Minnesota and incumbent U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar enjoys large double-digit leads in the polls. Two constitutional amendments attract strong advocates on each side; the statewide public interest in them is less clear. The GOP won their legislative majorities by narrow margins in 2010 less than 700 votes account for the Republicans majority in the House, while only several thousand votes leveraged Senate Republicans into the majority. Can the GOP hold their majorities as turnout rises as it often does during a presidential election? The DFL will need to win a net gain of 6 seats in the House to pull even at 67 and 4 seats to reach a majority of 34 seats in the Senate. What will it take for the GOP to retain their legislative majorities? Most of the 201 legislative seats are safe or generally favor one party. The most competitive seats stand out because of the close election in 2010 and the GOPs success in winning these close contests. A few dozen red hot seats will determine control over the Minnesota legislature. The GOP faces a daunting but not insurmountable challenge in retaining their majorities.

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