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Minnesota Attorney General election, 2022 (August 9 Democratic primary)

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Minnesota Attorney General
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: May 31, 2022
Primary: August 9, 2022
General: November 8, 2022
Pre-election incumbent(s):
Keith Ellison (Democratic)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Minnesota
Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness
State executive elections in 2022
Impact of term limits in 2022
State government trifectas
State government triplexes
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2022
Minnesota
executive elections
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Secretary of State
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A Democratic Party primary took place on August 9, 2022, in Minnesota to determine which candidate would earn the right to run as the party's nominee in the state's attorney general election on November 8, 2022.

Incumbent Keith Ellison advanced from the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Minnesota.

This page focuses on Minnesota's Democratic Party Attorney General primary. For more in-depth information on Minnesota's Republican Attorney General primary and the general election, see the following pages:

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Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Attorney General of Minnesota

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Keith Ellison
Keith Ellison
 
89.3
 
378,367
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Bill Dahn
 
10.7
 
45,110

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

Total votes: 423,477
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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Campaign data

Campaign finance

State profile

Demographic data for Minnesota
 MinnesotaU.S.
Total population:5,482,435316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):79,6273,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:84.8%73.6%
Black/African American:5.5%12.6%
Asian:4.4%5.1%
Native American:1%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
Two or more:2.7%3%
Hispanic/Latino:5%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:92.4%86.7%
College graduation rate:33.7%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$61,492$53,889
Persons below poverty level:12.2%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Minnesota.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Minnesota

Minnesota voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, 19 are located in Minnesota, accounting for 9.22 percent of the total pivot counties.[1]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Minnesota had 15 Retained Pivot Counties and four Boomerang Pivot Counties, accounting for 8.29 and 16.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Minnesota coverage on Ballotpedia

Election analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
  • Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
  • State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
  • Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.

Presidential elections

See also: Presidential voting trends in Minnesota and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for Minnesota, 2022
District Incumbent Party PVI
Minnesota's 1st Vacant Ends.png Republican R+7
Minnesota's 2nd Angie Craig Electiondot.png Democratic D+1
Minnesota's 3rd Dean Phillips Electiondot.png Democratic D+8
Minnesota's 4th Betty McCollum Electiondot.png Democratic D+17
Minnesota's 5th Ilhan Omar Electiondot.png Democratic D+30
Minnesota's 6th Tom Emmer Ends.png Republican R+12
Minnesota's 7th Michelle Fischbach Ends.png Republican R+19
Minnesota's 8th Pete Stauber Ends.png Republican R+8


2020 presidential results by 2022 congressional district lines

2020 presidential results in congressional districts based on 2022 district lines, Minnesota[2]
District Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
Minnesota's 1st 44.3% 53.5%
Minnesota's 2nd 52.5% 45.4%
Minnesota's 3rd 59.5% 38.5%
Minnesota's 4th 67.8% 30.2%
Minnesota's 5th 80.6% 17.4%
Minnesota's 6th 40.1% 57.7%
Minnesota's 7th 32.5% 65.7%
Minnesota's 8th 43.4% 54.7%


2012-2020

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:


Following the 2020 presidential election, 51.8% of Minnesotans lived in one of the state's nine Solid Democratic counties, which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 2012 to 2020, and 38.6% lived in one of 59 Solid Republican counties. Overall, Minnesota was Solid Democratic, having voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2012, Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016, and Joe Biden (D) in 2020. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Minnesota following the 2020 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

Historical voting trends

Minnesota presidential election results (1900-2020)

  • 20 Democratic wins
  • 10 Republican wins
  • 1 other win
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winning Party R R R P[3] R R R R D D D D D R R D D D R D D D D D D D D D D D D

Statewide elections

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections

See also: List of United States Senators from Minnesota

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in Minnesota.

U.S. Senate election results in Minnesota
Race Winner Runner up
2020 48.8%Democratic Party 43.5%Republican Party
2018 53.0%Democratic Party 42.4%Republican Party
2018 60.3%Democratic Party 36.2%Republican Party
2014 53.2%Democratic Party 42.9%Republican Party
2012 65.2%Democratic Party 30.6%Republican Party
Average 56.1 39.1

Gubernatorial elections

See also: Governor of Minnesota

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in Minnesota.

Gubernatorial election results in Minnesota
Race Winner Runner up
2018 53.8%Democratic Party 42.4%Republican Party
2014 50.1%Democratic Party 44.5%Republican Party
2010 43.6%Democratic Party 43.2%Republican Party
2006 46.7%Republican Party 45.7%Democratic Party
2002 44.4%Republican Party 36.5%Democratic Party
Average 47.7 42.5

State partisanship

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Minnesota's congressional delegation as of November 2022.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Minnesota, November 2022
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 2 4 6
Republican 0 4 4
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 8 10

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Minnesota's top four state executive offices as of November 2022.

State executive officials in Minnesota, November 2022
Office Officeholder
Governor Democratic Party Tim Walz
Lieutenant Governor Democratic Party Peggy Flanagan
Secretary of State Democratic Party Steve Simon
Attorney General Democratic Party Keith Ellison

State legislature

The tables below highlight the partisan composition of the Minnesota State Legislature as of November 2022.

Minnesota State Senate

Party As of November 2022
     Democratic Party 31
     Republican Party 34
     Independent 1
     Vacancies 1
Total 67

Minnesota House of Representatives

Party As of November 2022
     Democratic Party 69
     Republican Party 63
     Independent 1
     Vacancies 1
Total 134

Trifecta control

As of November 2022, Minnesota was a divided government, with Democrats controlling the governorship and a majority in the house and Republicans controlling a majority in the state senate. The table below displays the historical trifecta status of the state.

Minnesota Party Control: 1992-2022
Two years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Governor R R R R R R R I I I I R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R D D D D R R R R R R
House D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D R R D D R R R R D D D D

Demographics

The table below details demographic data in Minnesota and compares it to the broader United States as of 2019.

Demographic Data for Minnesota
Minnesota United States
Population 5,706,494 331,449,281
Land area (sq mi) 79,631 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White 81.6% 70.4%
Black/African American 6.4% 12.6%
Asian 4.9% 5.6%
Native American 1% 0.8%
Pacific Islander 0% 0.2%
Other (single race) 2.1% 5.1%
Multiple 3.9% 5.2%
Hispanic/Latino 5.5% 18.2%
Education
High school graduation rate 93.4% 88.5%
College graduation rate 36.8% 32.9%
Income
Median household income $73,382 $64,994
Persons below poverty level 9.3% 12.8%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


See also

Minnesota State Executive Elections News and Analysis
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Minnesota State Executive Offices
Minnesota State Legislature
Minnesota Courts
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
Minnesota elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
Party control of state government
State government trifectas
State of the state addresses
Partisan composition of governors

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
  2. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' presidential results by congressional district for 2020, 2016, and 2012," accessed September 9, 2022
  3. ↑ Progressive Party
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