From Cloquet to Winona, DFL makes a comeback in greater Minnesota

Good morning. After days of largely looking at top-of-the-ticket contests in the post-election wind-down, today we dedicate this space entirely to the legislative results. We’ll explore where Democrats reclaimed lost ground, how this election stacks up against past waves and who will lead the legislative caucuses as a new trifecta takes shape at the Capitol. Sign up to get Hot Dish Politics delivered to your inbox twice a week for the inside scoop on Minnesota politics and campaigns. For months, Minnesota’s political operatives pored over legislative maps and past election returns, calculating where a few hundred votes might decide control of an almost evenly split state Capitol. On election night, the Democratic wave splashed further than even some of the most optimistic insiders had predicted, capturing second and even third-tier targets in both the House and Senate. Advertisement In the suburbs, the election accelerated a shift that has been reshaping Minnesota politics for years. Democrats defeated Republican Sens. Jim Abeler of Anoka and Michael Kreun of Blaine and captured the Maple Grove-area seat vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Warren Limmer. House Republicans lost seats in Rogers, Lino Lakes, Cottage Grove, Hastings and Lakeville. But even more surprising was the party’s strength outside of the metro, where Democrats recovered seats that had slipped away during the Trump era. Around Cloquet, Democrat Chris Swanson defeated two-term Republican Rep. Jeff Dotseth by more than 11 percentage points in House District 11A. Near Mankato, Leah Hanson ousted Republican Rep. Erica Schwartz, and Dan Wilson defeated Republican Rep. Aaron Repinski in Winona, reversing GOP gains from two years ago. Democrats also picked up an open Republican House seat in St. Cloud, where Abdi Daisane won the race to succeed Rep. Bernie Perryman. Daisane will be the region’s first Somali-American legislator after flipping a state House seat held by Republicans since at least 2002.