All 134 Minnesota House seats, future of DFL triumvirate at risk
On November 5th, small business owners like you will have a role in determining the future course of our state and country. While the presidential election gets the most press attention, the election of lower-ranking candidates also has a direct and significant impact on your business.
In Minnesota’s closely-held legislature, all 134 seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives are up for election this year, as well as one special election in the Minnesota Senate, a crucial election that will determine control of the upper chamber.
With Governor Walz up for reelection in 2022, Democrats have had complete control of state government for the past two years. The consequences will be tough for many small business owners and Main Street will feel the effects for years to come.
Read the 2023 NFIB MN Session Recap and the 2024 NFIB MN Session Recap .
View NFIB MN’s 2023-24 Legislative Voting Record.
Democrats currently control the Minnesota House of Representatives by just four seats (70 Democrats, 64 Republicans), and their majority in that chamber will likely be narrowed down to fewer than two dozen battleground districts.
The Minnesota Senate is tied at 33 Republicans and 33 Democrats after a suburban DFL candidate running for Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District resigned. The stakes in this race are high.
Check out NFIB MN PAC’s 2024 Legislative Endorsements: Round I, Round II, Round III.
Our Minnesota state election preview begins with an overview of eight key races in Greater Minnesota.
For the past six years, Democrats have maintained a majority in the Minnesota House of Representatives, despite the disappearance of much of their old political base outside of metropolitan areas.
The DFL could still maintain its majority by swapping rural seats for seats in the Twin Cities suburbs, but its chances would be greatly improved if it could hold on to one or two of the districts currently represented by Democrats in Greater Minnesota.
Meanwhile, to flip the Minnesota House, Republicans would likely need to pick up at least two of the seats held by Democrats while retaining the seats they currently hold and picking up some suburban seats.
Greater Minnesota: DFL-held seats
House District 7B (St. Louis County) This seat has long been under Democratic control in the Iron Range, but has rapidly become Republican over the past decade. After winning with 24% of the vote in 2018, retiring Rep. Dave Lisselgard held on to his victory in 2022 with just 2.5% of the vote.
This year, Republican Cal Worwas is facing off against Democrat Rory Giannatopoulos.
Worwas has worked in the steel industry for 30 years and has served on the Range Area City School Board and as a local county supervisor. He received a 100% score on the NFIB MN PAC candidate survey and is endorsed by the NFIB MN PAC.
Giannatopoulos is a longtime labor union official, nonprofit board member and government administrator.
Former President Trump won the district in 2020 with 4.5% of the vote, but Governor Walz lost by just one point in 2022.
House District 14B (St. Cloud): Rep. Dan Wolgamott, a real estate agent and Democrat, is seeking his fourth term in the Minnesota House of Representatives. After winning his first two elections with relatively easy margins, Wolgamott lost reelection in 2022 by just 3.5%.
In the state legislature, Wolgamott received 29% of the NFIB MN voting record for 2023-24, which puts him higher than many of his peers, but it means he voted for big tax increases and onerous mandates like paid family and medical leave and paid sick leave.
He’s facing off against Republican candidate Sue Ek, a communications professional and community activist.
President Biden won the district by 4.2 percentage points in 2020, but Governor Walz won it in 2022 by just under 4 points.
House District 18A (Nicollet County): Democratic Rep. Jeff Bland is running for reelection to a third nonconsecutive term in the Minnesota House of Representatives. After winning by nine points in 2018, Bland lost in 2020 and is up for reelection in 2022 in two very close races.
Bland received just 14% of the vote on the NFIB MN voting roll for 2023-24 and took positions opposed to small business most of the time.
Erica Schwartz, a Republican running for public office for the first time, helps run her family’s Nicollet Mart in Nicollet, Minnesota, with her fiancé.
Biden won the district by 3 points in 2020, but Governor Walz won it by 6 points in 2022.
House District 26A (Winona): With Democratic Rep. Gene Pelowski deciding to retire earlier this year after 19 terms, this increasingly competitive district will be one of the most competitive races in 2024. Republican Aaron Lepinski will face off against Democratic Rep. Sarah Krueger.
Mr. Lepinski is the owner of Winona Tour Boats, a Mississippi River cruise ship company, and an Independent on the Winona City Council. Mr. Lepinski scored 100% on the NFIB MN PAC candidate survey and is endorsed by the NFIB MN PAC.
Krueger is chief of staff for the Minnesota chapter of Fair Vote, an organization that advocates for ranked-choice voting in local and state elections. (RCV is the ranked-choice voting method used in elections in Minneapolis, St. Paul and several suburban cities.) Krueger previously worked as a political campaign staffer and ran for state senator in 2020.
President Biden won this district by 5.4% in 2020, and Krueger lost this half of the Senate district to incumbent Sen. Jeremy Miller (Winona) by 5.8%. Gov. Walz won the district by 4.6% in 2022.
Greater Minnesota: Republican-held seats
House District 03A (Northeast Minnesota): First-term Republican Rep. Roger Sklava is seeking reelection against Democrat Harley Droba, International Falls County Mayor.
Sklava, a U.S. Army veteran and former Ely mayor, is a longtime outdoor outfitter and wilderness guide in the Boundary Waters. He scored 100% on the NFIB MN voting record for 2023-24 and is endorsed by the NFIB MN PAC.
Like District 7B, this seat was long held by the DFL — most of the current district’s area was represented by Democrats dating back to the 1970s — but in 2022, Sklava won the seat by 15 votes.
Both President Biden (2020) and Governor Walz (2022) received just over 47% of the vote in this district.
House District 03B (Hermantown, St. Louis County): Rep. Natalie Zelezniker is seeking a second term in this battleground district after defeating a 46-year incumbent in her first election. Rep. Zelezniker will face off against former state court judge Mark Munger.
Zeleznikar, a Republican, has owned and operated long-term care facilities in northeastern Minnesota for decades. Zeleznikar has a 100% pro-small business voting record and has been a strong advocate for common sense policies over the past two years. She is endorsed by the NFIB MN PAC.
Munger served as city attorney for Proctor for 14 years and later as a state district court judge for 20 years.
President Biden won this district in 2020 with 5.5% of the vote, and Governor Walz won it in 2022 with 10.7% of the vote.
House District 11A (Carlton and Pine counties): In 2022, local small business owner Jeff Dotzes won with 3.5% of the vote, becoming the first Republican to win this seat in decades.
Dotzes owns a real estate business and is a longtime NFIB member. During his first term, he earned a 100% score on his NFIB voting record and was an enthusiastic supporter of the Main Street Agenda. Dotzes is endorsed by the NFIB MN PAC.
This year, Dotzes faces a rematch against lawyer and newspaper owner Pete Radosevich.
Like other battleground states in northeast Minnesota, the district has tilted heavily Republican in recent years. President Obama won the seat by 26 points in 2012. Democratic presidential candidates have since won by much smaller margins, by just 1 percentage point in 2016 and 0.7 percentage points in 2020.
House District 14A (St. Augusta-Waite Park-St. Cloud): Rep. Bernie Perryman is another first-time candidate seeking reelection in this increasingly competitive district. In 2022, Perryman defeated Democrat Rep. Tammi Calhoun by 1.4%.
Perryman is an NFIB member who owns and operates two Batteries Plus stores in the St. Cloud area. As a hands-on small business owner, she understands the challenges our members face and has been a strong ally of the Main Street Agenda throughout her first term.
Perryman scored 100% on the 2023-24 NFIB MN voting record and has been endorsed by the NFIB MN PAC.
Abdi Daisan, a business consultant and daycare center owner, is the Democratic Party’s candidate.
President Biden won the district by 2.5% in 2020, but Governor Walz won it much closer in 2022 by 1.7%.
