Control of MN Legislature On the Line in This Year’s Election
ST. PAUL (WJON News) -- Control of the Minnesota State Legislature hangs in the balance in this year's election.
Every Minnesota House seat is on the ballot. The Democratic Party has held a six-seat majority for the past two years, so Republicans will need to flip at least four seats if they want to take control.
Fluence Media Political Analyst Blois Olson says both parties are targeting about 12 to 15 races.
There are a few in greater Minnesota including two in St. Cloud that people are watching, both Representative Dan Wolgamott's seat and Representative Bernie Perryman's seat are considered in that 12 to 15, but they are probably down the list as far as competitiveness. People have felt like both the incumbents have done well in surviving attacks, but that's where turnout will matter.
In House District 14B DFL incumbent Dan Wolgamott is being challenged by Republican Sue Ek. Two years ago Wolgamott won re-election by 540 votes.
In House District 14A incumbent Republican Bernie Perryman is being challenged by DFLer Abdi Daisane. Two years ago Perryman won the seat by just 199 votes.
There's also a special election in Senate District 45 for an open seat. Democrat Ann Johnson Stewart is facing Republican Kathleen Fowke. Whoever wins that seat will give their party a one-seat majority for control of the Minnesota Senate for the next two years.
This election season the political parties and super PACs are changing strategies on how to reach their voters. Olson says they are spending fewer dollars on traditional resources like mainstream media and mailers, and they are spending much more money on things like social media advertising. Olson says that allows them to do much more targeted marketing.
So for instance, one of the efforts of Republicans is there are about 140,000 voters who voted for Donald Trump in 2020 who did not show up for Scott Jensen in 2022. Low-propensity voters they are called, they vote in presidential elections or only vote occasionally. Republicans are working hard to get those folks out and they know who they are.
Olson says the political parties don't know who you voted for specifically, but they have data on your life choices and habits.
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