2012 elections preview: Minnesota voters to select winners in congressional, legislative primaries

August 13, 2012

By Ballotpedia's Congressional and State legislative teams

The primary season continues Tuesday with elections in Minnesota.

Voters in the North Star State will head to the polls on Tuesday to whittle down the list of congressional candidates and to shape the composition of the state Legislature. Polls are open in most locations from 7am to 8pm Central Time. Some smaller municipalities have indicated that they may stay open as late as 10pm.

Contested Primaries in Minnesota -- August 14, 2012
	U.S. House (8 seats)	State Legislature (110 seats)
Total Democratic Contested Primaries	3 (37.5%)	23 (11%)
Total Republican Contested Primaries	5 (62.5%)	20 (10%)

Congress

U.S. Senate

United States Senate elections in Minnesota, 2012

Incumbent U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) will try to fend off primary challenges from Dick Franson, Jack Shepard, and Darryl Stanton, while her likely Republican opponent, Kurt Bills, will square off against fellow Republicans David Carlson and Bob Carney, Jr..

U.S. House

United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, 2012

Democratic U.S. Representative Keith Ellison and Republican U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann are expected to win their primaries with ease.

Things are expected to get heated in Minnesota's 1st District, where Mike Parry has been jostling with Allen Quist for weeks to decide who will challenge Democratic incumbent Tim Walz in the November general election.

In Minnesota's northern 8th District, satellite spending has played a large role. Duluth City Councilman Jeff Anderson faces former state senator Tarryl Clark and former U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan in the primary to determine who will get a chance to unseat freshman Republican Representative Chip Cravaack.

State legislature

See also Minnesota State Senate elections, 2012 and Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2012

In Minnesota, there are 201 total legislative seats with elections in 2012. There are 23 (11%) contested Democratic primaries and 20 (10%) contested Republican primaries. Thus, there will be 43 (11%) races tomorrow with at least two candidates on the ballot. The 11% figure of contested primaries in Minnesota is significantly lower than the current national contested average of 19.4% for states that have had filing deadlines.

There are a total of 12 incumbents facing primary opposition -- 8 Democrats and 4 Republicans.

Incumbents facing a primary opponent are:

Senate

District 5:Incumbent Tom Saxhaug faces a challenge from Laverne H. Pederson

District 13: Incumbent Michelle Fischbach will face challenger Fadumo Yusuf.

District 17: Incumbent Lyle Koenen will try to keep his seat from challenger Larry D. Rice.

District 40: Freshman incumbent Chris Eaton faces a challenge from Timothy A. Davis, Sr..

District 47: Incumbent Julianne Ortman will face Bruce R. Schwichtenberg.

District 64: Dick Cohen, in office since 1987, faces a challenge from Alexander H. Jeffries.

District 65: Incumbent Sandra Pappas faces Marcus Walker.

House

District 7A: Incumbent Thomas Huntley is challenged by Brandon Clokey.

District 11B: Incumbent Tim Faust will face Nathan Johnson.

District 33B: Steve Smith faces challenger Cindy Pugh.

District 37B: Torey Hall will challenge incumbent Tim Sanders.

District 59A: Marcus Harcus is challenging longtime incumbent Joe Mullery.

Minnesota House of Representatives
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	61	73
	Republican Party	72	61
	Vacancy	1	0
Total		134	134

Minnesota State Senate
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	30	39
	Republican Party	37	28
Total		67	67

See also

• United States Senate elections in Minnesota, 2012
• United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan, 2012
• Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2012