Minnesota's 7th Congressional District election, 2020 (August 11 Democratic primary)

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Minnesota's 7th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: June 2, 2020
Primary: August 11, 2020
General: November 3, 2020
Pre-election incumbent:
Collin Peterson (Democratic)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Minnesota
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Toss-up
Inside Elections: Toss-up
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
Minnesota's 7th Congressional District
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th
Minnesota elections, 2020
U.S. Congress elections, 2020
U.S. Senate elections, 2020
U.S. House elections, 2020

A Democratic Party primary took place on August 11, 2020, in Minnesota's 7th Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate would run in the district's general election on November 3, 2020.

Incumbent Collin Peterson advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 7.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
June 2, 2020
August 11, 2020
November 3, 2020


Heading into the election, the incumbent was Collin Peterson (Democrat), who was first elected in 1990.

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Minnesota utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[1][2][3]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Minnesota's 7th Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Minnesota modified its primary election process as follows:

  • Voting procedures: The absentee/mail-in ballot postmark deadline was extended to August 11 and the receipt deadline was extended to August 13. The witness requirement for absentee/mail-in ballots was suspended.
  • Political party events: The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota opted to conduct all local and district-level conventions online. The Republican Party of Minnesota also opted to conduct all local party conventions online.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.


Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 7

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Collin Peterson
Collin Peterson
 
75.6
 
26,925
Image of Alycia Gruenhagen
Alycia Gruenhagen
 
16.7
 
5,956
Image of Stephen Emery
Stephen Emery
 
7.7
 
2,734

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 35,615
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+12, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 12 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Minnesota's 7th Congressional District the 112th most Republican nationally.[4]

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.19. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.19 points toward that party.[5]

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[6] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[7] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Collin Peterson Democratic Party $2,734,419 $2,887,984 $344,745 As of December 31, 2020
Stephen Emery Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Alycia Gruenhagen Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.


General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

  • Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
  • Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
  • Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[8]
  • Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[9][10][11]

Race ratings: Minnesota's 7th Congressional District election, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportToss-upToss-upToss-upToss-up
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesToss-upToss-upToss-upTilt Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallLean RepublicanToss-upToss-upToss-up
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

District represented by a Democrat in 2020 and won by Donald Trump in 2016

See also: U.S. House districts represented by a Democrat in 2020 and won by Donald Trump in 2016

This district was one of 30 Democratic-held U.S. House districts up in 2020 that Donald Trump (R) won in the 2016 presidential election. Most were expected to be among the House's most competitive elections in 2020.


2020 Democratic-held U.S. House districts won by Donald Trump in 2016
District Incumbent Ran in 2020? 2018 congressional margin 2016 presidential margin 2012 presidential margin
Arizona's 1st Democratic Party Tom O'Halleran Yes Democrats+7.7 Trump+1.1 Romney+2.5
Georgia's 6th Democratic Party Lucy McBath Yes Democrats+1.0 Trump+1.5 Romney+23.3
Illinois' 14th Democratic Party Lauren Underwood Yes Democrats+5.0 Trump+3.9 Romney+10
Illinois' 17th Democratic Party Cheri Bustos Yes Democrats+24.2 Trump+0.7 Obama+17
Iowa's 1st Democratic Party Abby Finkenauer Yes Democrats+5.1 Trump+3.5 Obama+13.7
Iowa's 2nd Democratic Party Dave Loebsack Retired Democrats+5.2 Trump+4.1 Obama+13.1
Iowa's 3rd Democratic Party Cindy Axne Yes Democrats+2.2 Trump+3.5 Obama+4.2
Maine's 2nd Democratic Party Jared Golden Yes Democrats+1.3 Trump+10.3 Obama+8.6
Michigan's 8th Democratic Party Elissa Slotkin Yes Democrats+3.8 Trump+6.7 Romney+3.1
Michigan's 11th Democratic Party Haley Stevens Yes Democrats+6.7 Trump+4.4 Romney+5.4
Minnesota's 2nd Democratic Party Angie Craig Yes Democrats+5.5 Trump+1.2 Obama+0.1
Minnesota's 7th Democratic Party Collin Peterson Yes Democrats+4.3 Trump+30.8 Romney+9.8
Nevada's 3rd Democratic Party Susie Lee Yes Democrats+9.1 Trump+1.0 Obama+0.8
New Hampshire's 1st Democratic Party Chris Pappas Yes Democrats+8.6 Trump+1.6 Obama+1.6
New Jersey's 3rd Democratic Party Andrew Kim Yes Democrats+1.3 Trump+6.2 Obama+4.6
New Jersey's 5th Democratic Party Josh Gottheimer Yes Democrats+13.7 Trump+1.1 Romney+3.0
New Jersey's 11th Democratic Party Mikie Sherrill Yes Democrats+14.6 Trump+0.9 Romney+5.8
New Mexico's 2nd Democratic Party Xochitl Torres Small Yes Democrats+1.9 Trump+10.2 Romney+6.8
New York's 11th Democratic Party Max Rose Yes Democrats+6.5 Trump+9.8 Obama+4.3
New York's 18th Democratic Party Sean Maloney Yes Democrats+10.9 Trump+1.9 Obama+4.3
New York's 19th Democratic Party Antonio Delgado Yes Democrats+5.2 Trump+6.8 Obama+6.2
New York's 22nd Democratic Party Anthony Brindisi Yes Democrats+1.8 Trump+15.5 Romney+0.4
Oklahoma's 5th Democratic Party Kendra Horn Yes Democrats+1.4 Trump+13.4 Romney+18.4
Pennsylvania's 8th Democratic Party Matt Cartwright Yes Democrats+9.3 Trump+9.6 Obama+11.9
Pennsylvania's 17th Democratic Party Conor Lamb Yes Democrats+12.5 Trump+2.6 Romney+4.5
South Carolina's 1st Democratic Party Joe Cunningham Yes Democrats+1.4 Trump+13.1 Romney+18.1
Utah's 4th Democratic Party Ben McAdams Yes Democrats+0.3 Trump+6.7 Romney+37.0
Virginia's 2nd Democratic Party Elaine Luria Yes Democrats+2.2 Trump+3.4 Romney+2.3
Virginia's 7th Democratic Party Abigail Spanberger Yes Democrats+1.9 Trump+6.5 Romney+10.5
Wisconsin's 3rd Democratic Party Ron Kind Yes Democrats+19.3 Trump+4.5 Obama+11
Source: Sabato's Crystal Ball and Daily Kos


Click here to see the five U.S. House districts represented by a Republican in 2020 and won by Hillary Clinton in 2016.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ NCSL,"State Primary Election Types," accessed April 25, 2023
  2. ↑ Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
  3. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State,"PRIMARY ELECTION," accessed April 25, 2023
  4. ↑ Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
  5. ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
  6. ↑ Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
  7. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
  8. ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
  9. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
  10. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
  11. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018


Minnesota's current delegation to the United States Congress
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Amy Klobuchar (D)
Tina Smith (D)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
Tom Emmer (R)
District 7
District 8
Democratic Party (6)
Republican Party (4)


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