By all accounts, Erica Schwartz was the toast of the evening for state-level Republicans hoping to end the DFL “trifecta” at the Minnesota Capitol this January.
The mother of three, who helps her husband run their family-owned grocery store in Nicollet, was the first announced winner for the GOP column in the 134 state house seats up for grabs on Nov. 5. It also ended up being one of three seats Republicans flipped in Greater Minnesota.
The race in House District 18A — which spans St. Peter, Mankato, Nicollet and adjacent communities in southern Minnesota — was confirmed in Schwartz’s favor just after 10 p.m., as she defeated two-term DFL incumbent Jeff Brand by 3.4 percent.
Schwartz told supporters upon learning she would be headed to the legislature this January that she was “deeply honored for your trust to serve as your next State Representative. To those who didn’t vote for me: I promise to work tirelessly to earn your trust and support these next two years.”
D.C.-based group backed Schwartz and other MN candidates with nearly $1M in October ads
While Schwartz worked hard to establish a campaign war chest that could match Brand, she received some sizable and timely help from those outside District 18A that saw it would likely be the most prized state house seat of the night.
For several months during the 2024 campaign cycle, the Republican States Leadership Committee had promised it would deploy its resources to help Republicans in Minnesota and a half dozen other Midwest states either flip control of their legislatures or end Democratic “trifectas.”
In mid-October the D.C.-based political action committee made good on its promise when it donated a total of $900,000 to Woodbury-based entity, The New Fund, which spent those funds to support the election of a number of GOP state house candidates, including Schwartz.
More than $51,000 of those dollars were spent in campaign ads (70 percent mail, 30 percent digital) targeting voters in District 18A – all in support of Schwartz, according to reports filed with the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board. The group also dedicated $55,000 to a 26A race in Winona that saw Republican Aaron Repinski defeat DFLer Sarah Kruger, flipping control of that seat for the first time in four decades.
The effort was a part of the RSLC’s ‘Left’s Most Wanted’ campaign that helped defend GOP majorities in Arizona, New Hampshire and Wisconsin while breaking out of the Democrat trifecta in the Minnesota House chamber.
Of the 10 Democrats the RSLC targeted in the paid media effort, “eight were defeated by strong state Republican candidates who campaigned on the important issues of border security, crime, and the economy,” the organization said in a press statement on Monday.
Minnesota, Michigan ended Democratic “trifectas”
Along with aiding Republicans in ending a Democratic “trifecta” in Minnesota and Michigan, the organization said it also helped Republicans win pivotal legislative races in Arizona, Wisconsin and New Hampshire.
“The American people voted resoundingly to defend and expand state GOP majorities and break out of Democrat-controlled trifectas,” said Dee Duncan, president for the Republican States Leadership Committee. “We knew that state Republicans had the upper hand on winning issues like border security, crime, and the economy, which is why we dedicated significant resources into these crucial battleground districts to drive home our message.”
In August the organization ran television ads in Minnesota and other states it was targeting to flip control of the legislature or end Democratic “trifectas.” Earlier this summer staff for RSLC told Alpha News that Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania were three key states in position for a GOP “flip” in at least one of their legislative chambers.
Brand, DFL outspent Schwartz, MN GOP 3-to-1
In the money battle, Schwartz ended up raising more than $50,000 in her first ever campaign for office, half of which came from individual donor contributions. Brand, who was first elected in 2020, raised nearly $77,000 for his re-election bid, with more than two-thirds coming from individual donors.
The House Republican Campaign Committee spent about $95,000 in the district to help Schwartz cross the finish line. By comparison, the DFL House Caucus spent more than $380,000 on the District 18A race, in campaign messaging either supporting Brand or attacking Schwartz.
Despite the fact that the DFL outspent Republicans in 18A by a margin of 3-to-1, House Democratic leadership admitted last week that they continue to lose ground among voters in Greater Minnesota.
“So we’ve seen a geographic realignment across the world and across the country and in Minnesota where our rural areas are becoming increasingly red, and our urban and suburban areas are becoming increasingly blue,” Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, told media members during a post-election press conference she led at the Capitol last week. Hortman was re-elected by her colleagues to lead the DFL caucus when it begins the legislative session in January.
In D.C., the RSLC believes its ads supporting Schwartz helped put her over the top in a swing district it put its sites on several months ago.
“We will continue to build off the success we had this cycle to protect and expand our majorities nationwide come next cycle, where Democrats will come back with more money than ever before to unseat Republicans,” the RSLC’s Duncan told Alpha News.
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
