Minnesota State Senate District 60 special election, 2025

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Minnesota 2025 elections

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Doron Clark (D) defeated Abigail Wolters (R) in the special election for District 60 in the Minnesota Senate on January 28, 2025.

The district was vacant due to the death of state Sen. Kari Dziedzic (D) on Dec. 27, 2024.^[1] Her death left a vacancy that turned Democrats' 34-33 majority in the Senate into a 33-33 tie. Democrats and Republicans established a power-sharing agreement until the election was held. The agreement allowed both parties to chair committees and to not change any Senate rules.^[2] As a result, this election determined majority control, which the Democrats won. For more information on the agreement and the effects of the vacancy on the Senate, click here.

Clark was a community organizer.^[3] He said he was running to continue the work of Sen. Dziedzic. He said, "No one can ever fill Kari Dziedzic’s shoes, but I will do everything in my power to live up to her legacy."^[4] He campaigned on improving education and said, "We need to more fully fund education. I’d start with how we fund school lunches."^[3] Clark also campaigned on housing and said, "We have a housing emergency. We’ve got encampments here, and we’ve got to fix that now."^[3]

Wolters was a software engineer.^[5] She said she was running because she believed "Minneapolis would benefit from having a conservative voice representing us in the state legislature. The Minnesota legislature needs balance when discussing issues specific to...Minneapolis."^[4] She campaigned on public safety saying, "I’m...looking forward to taking crime more seriously. I think there’s been a lot of violent crime in the past four years, and some of that comes from people who aren’t documented."^[3] Wolters also focused on reducing spending, and her website said she would "advocate for responsible budgeting to reduce waste and fraud to keep more money in your pocket."^[5]

In 2022, Dziedzic ran unopposed, winning 98.7% of the vote. The last time the seat was contested was in 2020 when Dziedzic defeated Mary Holmberg (R) 85.7% to 14.1%. For more information on past election results in the district, click here.

Minnesota had a divided government. The governorship was held by Democrat Tim Walz, the state House was held by Republicans pending a special election, and the state Senate was divided pending a special election. Since 1992, Minnesota had a divided government with the exception of 2013-2015 and 2023-2025 when Democrats held a trifecta. To read more about Minnesota's historical party control, click here.

This election was the fifth scheduled special election for a state legislature in 2025. Since 2012, Minnesota had held twenty special elections for state legislative seats. Elections for Senate District 45 in 2024, Senate District 11 in 2019, and Senate District 13 in 2018 were covered by Ballotpedia. For more information on state legislative special elections taking place in 2025, click here.

In addition to the Senate, the Minnesota House of Representatives also had vacancies that delayed the start of the legislative session. For more information on Minnesota's 2025 legislative session, click here.

Candidates and election results

General election

Special general election for Minnesota State Senate District 60

Doron Clark defeated Abigail Wolters in the special general election for Minnesota State Senate District 60 on January 28, 2025.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Doron Clark (D)	90.9	7,783
	Abigail Wolters (R)	8.7	746
	Other/Write-in votes	0.4	32

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,561
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Special Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 60

The following candidates ran in the special Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 60 on January 14, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doron Clark	38.1	2,073
	Submit photo	Monica Meyer	34.6	1,882
		Peter Wagenius	23.2	1,262
	Submit photo	Amal Karim	1.7	93
		Iris Altamirano	1.4	74
	Submit photo	Joshua Preston	0.5	29
	Submit photo	Emilio Rodríguez	0.4	23

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,436
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Mohamed Jama (D) (Unofficially withdrew)

Republican primary election

Special Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 60

Abigail Wolters defeated Christopher Robin Zimmerman in the special Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 60 on January 14, 2025.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Abigail Wolters	72.2	153
	Christopher Robin Zimmerman	27.8	59

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 212
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Comparison to previous election

The total turnout in 2025 was 32% of the turnout in the 2022 election when incumbent Kari Dziedzic (D) ran unopposed. The number of Democratic votes was 29.4% of the number received in 2022. No Republican candidate ran in 2022. The margin of victory (MOV) in the special election was 7,037 votes, which was closer than the 2022 MOV (26,124).

The following chart compares the results and total votes between the November 8, 2022, regular election for this seat and the 2025 special election.

Candidate comparison

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Doron Clark

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Biography: Clark received his bachelor's degree in Religion and Economics from Hamline University. He worked as a community organizer and as chair of the Windsom Parks neighborhood board.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Clark campaigned on improving public education, and his website said, " I will do everything in my power to fight for our Minneapolis Public Schools to make sure the state increases per-pupil funding and reimburses districts for the services they are mandated to provide."

Clark wanted to improve housing, and his website said, "We need innovative housing solutions. Encampments are a failure of government. The current whack-a-mole approach that evicts encampments and sends neighbors into the cold with nowhere else to go is inhumane and ineffective."

Clark supported taking action on climate, and his website said, "We need bold leadership to meet Minnesota’s ambitious climate goals. Achieving these goals will take bold leadership at the state level."

Show sources

Sources: Dorian Clark 2025 campaign website, "Priorities," accessed January 16, 2025; MPR, "Senate District 60 primary results: 9 candidates running in election to decide control of the Minnesota Senate," January 14, 2025; Doron Clark 2025 campaign website, "About," accessed January 16, 2025

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Minnesota State Senate District 60 in 2025.

Abigail Wolters

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Biography: Wolters received her bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Minnesota in 2021. She previously worked as a software engineer.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Wolters campaigned on improving public safety: "I’m...looking forward to taking crime more seriously. I think there’s been a lot of violent crime in the past four years, and some of that comes from people who aren’t documented."

Wolters supported reducing government regulations, and her website said: "Promote innovation and entrepreneurship to grow good-paying jobs here at home by eliminating burdensome government regulations."

Wolters supported reducing spending, and her website said she would "advocate for responsible budgeting to reduce waste and fraud to keep more money in your pocket."

Show sources

Sources: MPR, "Senate District 60 primary results: 9 candidates running in election to decide control of the Minnesota Senate," January 14, 2025; Abigail Wolters 2025 campaign website, "Front page," accessed January 16, 2025; LinkedIn, "Abigail Wolters," accessed January 16, 2025

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Minnesota State Senate District 60 in 2025.

Campaign advertisements

This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements per candidate released in this race, as well as links to candidates' YouTube, Vimeo, and/or Facebook video pages. If you are aware of other links that should be included, please email us.

Doron Clark

Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Doron Clark while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.

Abigail Wolters

Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Abigail Wolters while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.

Election competitiveness

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.

Endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

Click the links below to see official endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites for any candidates that make that information available. If you are aware of a website that should be included, please email us.

Doron Clark

Election spending

Campaign finance

The tables below contain data from financial reports submitted to state agencies. The data is gathered and made available by Transparency USA. Transparency USA tracks loans separately from total contributions. View each candidate’s loan totals, if any, by clicking “View More” in the table below and learn more about this data here.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.^[6]^[7]^[8]

If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.

Historical party control

Democrats won a 34-33 majority in the Minnesota State Senate in 2022, gaining control of the chamber for the first time since 2012.

The table below shows the partisan history of the Minnesota Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2022. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

Minnesota State Senate election results: 1992-2022

Party	92	96	00	02	06	10	12	16	20	22
Democrats	45	42	39	35	44	30	39	33	31	34
Republicans	22	25	27	31	23	37	28	34	34	33
Other	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	0

Trifecta history

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. Between 1992 and 2025, Minnesota was under the following types of trifecta control:

Democratic trifecta: 2013-2015, 2023-2025
Republican trifecta:
Divided government: 1993-2012, 2015-2023, 2025-present

Minnesota Party Control: 1992-2024
Four 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	23	24
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	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	D	D
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	D	D

Election context

Ballot access requirements

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Minnesota

A major party candidate seeking placement on the primary ballot must file an affidavit of candidacy. The affidavit must state the following, regardless of the office being sought:^[9]^[10]

that the candidate is an eligible voter
that the candidate has no other affidavit on file as a candidate for any other office at the same primary or next ensuing general election
that the candidate is 21 years old, or will be at the time he or she assumes office, and that the candidate will maintain a residence in the district in which he or she is seeking election for 30 days prior to the general election
that the candidate's name as written on the affidavit for ballot designation is the candidate's true name or the name by which he or she is commonly known in the community

The candidate must also include his or her address and telephone number. The candidate must indicate on the affidavit that he or she has either participated in the party's most recent precinct caucus or intends to vote for a majority of the party's candidates at the next ensuing general election. The affidavit includes office-specific information, as well.^[9]^[10]

In addition the affidavit of candidacy, a major party candidate must either pay a filing fee or submit a petition in lieu of paying the filing fee. Filing fees vary according to the office being sought and are as follows:^[10]^[11]

Filing fees
Office	Filing fee
Governor, attorney general, auditor, secretary of state or United States Representative	$300
United States Senator	$400
State legislature	$100

If a candidate elects to submit a petition in lieu of paying the filing fee, the petition must meet the following signature requirements:^[10]^[11]

Signature requirements for petitions in lieu of filing fees
Office	Required signatures
Governor, attorney general, auditor, secretary of state or United States Senator	2,000
United States Representative	1,000
State legislature	500

Candidates must file between the 84th day preceding the primary election and the 70th day preceding the primary. Candidates for federal office must file with the Minnesota Secretary of State. A candidate for state-level office may file with the county auditor of his or her county of residence or the Minnesota Secretary of State.^[10]^[12]

Election history