Minnesota held four state Senate special elections between January and November 2025 after one senator died of cancer, one was killed, one resigned following a federal child solicitation arrest, and one resigned after a burglary conviction. When the dust settled on November 4, 2025, the DFL held a 34-33 majority, the same one-seat edge voters gave the party in 2022.
The Four Vacancies That Triggered the Elections
Senator Kari Dziedzic (DFL, District 60)
Senator Kari Dziedzic, who had represented northeast Minneapolis since 2012 and served as Senate Majority Leader from January 2023 to February 2024, died on December 27, 2024, after a battle with ovarian cancer.1Fox 9. Special Election MN Senate District 60 Her death left the chamber tied 33-33 and made the race to replace her the first test of the cycle.
Senator Justin Eichorn (R, Grand Rapids)
On March 12, 2025, Republican Senator Justin Eichorn was arrested by Bloomington police after allegedly responding to an online advertisement and arranging to meet someone he believed to be a 17-year-old girl for sex. The purported minor was an undercover officer, and federal prosecutors charged him with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.2U.S. Department of Justice. Minnesota State Senator Charged With Attempted Coercion and Enticement of a Minor Eichorn resigned on March 20, 2025. He had won his district with 63% of the vote in 2022.3St. Cloud Times. Minnesota Sen. Justin Eichorn Resigns After Arrest
Senator Nicole Mitchell (DFL, Woodbury)
Senator Nicole Mitchell, a first-term DFL lawmaker and former broadcast meteorologist, was arrested on April 22, 2024, after police found her in the basement of her stepmother’s home in Detroit Lakes in the middle of the night. She was charged with first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools and pleaded not guilty, testifying that she had entered the home to check on her stepmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.4CBS News Minnesota. Nicole Mitchell Resignation Announcement Burglary Trial A Becker County jury convicted her on both felony counts on July 18, 2025. Three days later her attorneys announced she would resign no later than August 4, 2025, after Republican leadership threatened to move for her expulsion.5MPR News. Minnesota Senate Jolted by Nicole Mitchell Conviction
Senator Bruce Anderson (R, Buffalo)
On the same day Mitchell announced her resignation, Republican Senator Bruce Anderson died unexpectedly at age 75.6MPR News. Republican State Senator Bruce Anderson Has Died Anderson had served nearly 30 years in the Legislature, winning a House seat in 1994 before moving to the Senate in 2012, and he was known for his work on agriculture, veterans’ issues, broadband, and public safety.7CBS News Minnesota. Senator Bruce Anderson Dies Unexpectedly Because a DFL and a Republican seat opened the same day, the chamber balance stayed at 33-32 going into the fall special elections.
Results of Each Special Election
District 60: January 28, 2025
In the deeply Democratic Minneapolis seat, DFL candidate Doron Clark won 7,783 votes (about 91%) to Republican Abigail Wolters’s 746 (roughly 9%), restoring the DFL’s 34-33 majority.8Fox 9. MN Senate District 60 DFL Doron Clark Wins Special Election
District 47 (Woodbury and Maplewood): November 4, 2025
DFL state Representative Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger, in office since 2022, defeated Republican Dwight Dorau, a retired Air Force colonel and teacher. Hemmingsen-Jaeger took 13,527 votes (about 62%) to Dorau’s 8,383 (roughly 38%), a margin of 5,144.9Minnesota Secretary of State. State Senator District 47 Special Election Results The win secured the DFL’s one-seat majority.
District 29 (Wright County): November 4, 2025
Republican Michael Holmstrom Jr. defeated DFL candidate Louis McNutt in the historically Republican-leaning district, winning 12,328 votes (about 62%) to McNutt’s 7,459 (roughly 38%), a margin of 4,869.10Minnesota Secretary of State. State Senator District 29 Special Election Results
Had Republicans won both November seats, they would have taken the majority for the first time since 2022. Instead, each party held its seat and the Senate returned to its full 67 members at 34-33 DFL.11MPR News. Voters in Two Special Elections Decide Minnesota Senate Party Control
The House Cascade
Hemmingsen-Jaeger’s move to the Senate emptied her House seat, District 47A, forcing another special election on January 27, 2026. DFL candidate Shelley Buck won unopposed after no Republican filed.12Minnesota House of Representatives. House District 47A Special Election On the same date, DFL candidate Meg Luger-Nikolai won the special election for House District 64A, which had opened when Representative Kaohly Her was elected mayor of St. Paul.13Axios Twin Cities. Special Election Results: Democrats Win, Bring House to 67-67 Tie
Those two wins locked the House into a 67-67 tie. Under the power-sharing agreement between the caucuses, Republican Lisa Demuth remained Speaker, committees rotate leadership for certain functions, and no bill can reach the floor without bipartisan support.14CBS News Minnesota. Minnesota House Tie: David Gottfried Sworn In
How Minnesota Calls a Legislative Special Election
Minnesota Statute 204D.19 governs the timing. If a vacancy occurs more than 150 days before the next general election and the Legislature will not be in session before that election’s results are certified, the seat is filled at the next general election. Otherwise, the governor issues a writ calling a special election. When the Legislature is in session, the writ must be issued within five days and the election held within 35 days. At other times, the writ must ensure the winner can take office when the Legislature next convenes.15Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Section 204D.19 – Special Elections
What It Means for 2026
Democrats kept the Senate but lost their outright House majority, ending the DFL trifecta that had held since 2023. Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson called the fall contests a “bellwether” for 2026, when all 201 state legislative seats, every statewide office, and an open U.S. Senate seat will be on the ballot.16MPR News. Senate Majority at Stake in Minnesota Special Elections With the House tied and requiring bipartisan agreement on every bill, and a projected $6 billion budget shortfall for fiscal years 2028-29 hanging over budget talks, few major bills are expected to pass in the 2026 session.17MNCPA. 2026 Minnesota Capitol