Attendees celebrate as results roll in at the DFL watch party, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Every Minnesota House district voted more blue than in 2024, leading to a DFL trifecta in the state government. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
UNDATED (Minnesota Reformer) – The national wave of anti-Trump fervor that swept the country Tuesday seems to have permeated every geographic region of Minnesota: Every Minnesota House district shifted leftward in 2026 compared to 2024, with several districts moving left by over 15 percentage points.
In 10 districts, that meant voters who chose Republican legislators in 2024 voted for a Democrat in 2026, ousting several Republican incumbents. In six districts, Trump-voting legislative districts voted for a Democrat for the Minnesota House in 2026.
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party will take control of both the House and the Senate in the Minnesota Legislature, which, along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s victory in the governor’s race, gives the Democrats another “trifecta” after two years of sharing control with Republicans.
Districts where the two parties didn’t both have candidates in 2024 or 2026 — all blue districts, except District 21A, which didn’t have a Democratic candidate in 2024 — are excluded from the Reformer’s analysis of voting shifts.
The outcome could be a function of voters changing their allegiance, but also a different electorate from two years prior. That is, Republican voters may have been more likely to stay home this time.
The districts that shifted left the most were districts that voted red in 2024 and continued to vote Republican in 2026, but by a smaller margin this time. Many are still comfortably red. District 12B in central Minnesota shifted 20 points leftward, the most in the state, but Republican state Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, still defeated DFL candidate Michael Gardner by a margin of 35.8 percentage points in 2026 — compared to her 2024 win by a margin of 56 percentage points.
One north metro suburban district that was solidly red in 2024, 32A, is now facing a recount after Rep. Nolan West, R-Blaine, won by a margin of just 22 votes.
Comments