No matter what happens with two looming special elections, and potentially another one on the horizon, the impending shift in political power at the Minnesota Legislature will be noticeable in the coming weeks.
A two-year DFL “trifecta” is set to end on Monday, Jan. 14, when 67 Republicans and (maybe) 66 Democrats enter the Minnesota House of Representatives, and an even number of Republicans and Democrats, 33 from each caucus, enter the Minnesota Senate.
When that first roll call takes place in each chamber to signal the start of the new legislative session, those who pay close enough attention to politics at the Capitol will notice that the vast majority of the faces are familiar.
Just 21 first-time legislators are set to begin their first terms in the House, among the 134 who were elected last month. Fourteen of those freshmen are Republicans, and seven are DFLers. One would-be DFL legislator who won an election for House District 40B, Curtis Johnson, will not take the oath of office after a judge ruled he isn’t eligible to serve in the seat because he didn’t live in the district. That seat is, for now, set for a Jan. 28 special election.
In the Senate, the faces will be all-too familiar, as 2024 was not an election year for the upper chamber. The one special election that took place this fall in the west metro, for District 45, resulted in the election of Ann Johnson Stewart, who had most recently served in the Senate from 2021 to 2022 before choosing not to run in a primary after redistricting took place. Another special election is set to take place this month in Senate District 60, following the death of DFLer Kari Dziedzic.
A one-time potential shakeup in the executive branch, stemming from the three-month vice-presidential candidacy of Gov. Tim Walz, is no longer, as Donald Trump won the presidential election and Walz returned to St. Paul.
So who are the less than two dozen new legislative faces who will help shape the paradigm of the Capitol in the coming months? Here’s a brief look at each:
Republicans
Erica Schwartz
District: 18A (Nicollet)
Who they beat: Schwartz unseated two-term DFL incumbent Jeff Brand in the southern Minnesota swing district that includes Mankato by 3.4 percentage points, which Republicans considered one of their best wins on election night in Minnesota.
Who they replace: Brand has served two non-consecutive terms representing the area. He first won election in 2018. In 2020 Brand was defeated by Susan Akland. He then won a rematch with Akland in 2022.
Background: Schwartz is a mother and small business owner who operates an independent grocery store with her husband in the city of Nicollet. She told supporters on election night 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.”
Tom Dippel
District: 41B (Cottage Grove)
Who they beat: Dippel, a business owner and Cottage Grove native, defeated his DFL opponent, Hastings City Council member Jen Fox, by 2 points.
Who they replace: One-term GOP Rep. Shane Hudella decided not to run again. The district was considered a potential “flip” for the DFL.
Background: Dippel won his first term at Minnesota Capitol in his second try. In 2022, Dippel was the GOP-endorsed candidate for Senate District 41 and lost to DFLer Judy Seeberger by 321 votes.
Wayne Johnson
District: 41A (Cottage Grove)
Who they beat: Johnson held off DFL activist and former St. Paul police officer Lucia Wroblewski by 1 percentage point. Wroblewski fundraised almost more than any other Democrat in their respective state House races.
Who they replace: Mark Wiens is a one-term legislator who decided to run for Washington County Board. He won his 2022 election by 100 votes.
Background: Johnson is a former Washington County Board member. He lost the Republican endorsement to relative newcomer Grayson McNew, but defeated McNew in the Republican primary in August.
Bidal Duran
District: 2A (Bemidji)
Who they beat: Duran, a first-time candidate for office, defeated DFL opponent Reed Olson by 3.8 percent in an open contest for the northern Minnesota district that stretches from Bemidji to International Falls.
Who they replace: Matt Grossell, a four-term legislator, decided not to run again in a district he won by 9 points over Olson in 2022.
Background: Duran is a former Hubbard County Sheriff’s deputy and a U.S. Marine combat veteran. He’s married and has three daughters.
Jimmy Gordon
District: 28A (Isanti)
Who they beat: Gordon won his general election contest over DFL opponent Tim Dummer by more than 36 points. But his biggest victory was in the Republican primary over six-term incumbent Brian Johnson. Gordon received more than 2-to-1 support from GOP primary voters over the veteran legislator Johnson.
Who they replace: Rep. Brian Johnson
Background: Gordon was mayor of Isanti and owns a pizza business with his family in the northern metro city. He won the Republican endorsement last March over Johnson, with more than 80 percent of the vote from delegates at the district convention.
Keith Allen
District: 19A (Kenyon)
Who they beat: Allen defeated DFL challenger Jessica Navarro by more than 30 percent.
Who they replace: Rep. Brian Daniels represented the southern Minnesota district for 10 years, but announced last year he wouldn’t seek a sixth term in the House.
Background: Allen is a farmer and small business owner. He’s also worked as an outreach representative for Republican Congressman Brad Finstad.
Tom Sexton
District: 19B (Waseca)
Who they beat: Sexton defeated DFL challenger Edelgard Fernandez Mejia for the open seat that covers Owatonna, Waseca and surrounding towns by more than 32 percent.
Who they replace: John Petersburg elected not to run for a seventh term in the House. The district is reliably Republican.
Background: Sexton is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and former vice president of an engineering and project management firm. He’s also served on the Waseca Planning Commission.
Cal Warwas
District: 7B (Eveleth)
Who they beat: Warwas, a 28-year union steelworker from Clinton Township, defeated DFL opponent Lorrie Janatopoulos by nearly 13 points in a coveted Iron Range swing district Republicans had been chipping away at for years. Warwas was expected to win the election, but when it became official, it was celebrated by Republicans as one of three Greater Minnesota districts they “flipped.”
Who they replace: This summer three-term incumbent Dave Lislegard announced he would no longer seek re-election.
Background: Warwas is currently employed by United States Steel Corporation. He was also a director for the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools Board. He’s also been an active member of county and state township associations. He resides with his wife Maria in Clinton Township (just south of Eveleth) where he served on the board of supervisors.
Aaron Repinski
District: 26A (Winona)
Who they beat: Repinski defeated DFL activist Sarah Kruger by nearly 6 percent in a district that had been held by Democrats for nearly 40 years.
Who they replace: Rep. Gene Pelowski was first elected to the House in 1986. He’s been considered a moderate Democrat and announced last year he would retire from elected office. Republicans believed the seat was ripe for a GOP “pick up” as soon as Pelowski left office.
Background: Repinski is a longtime riverboat captain and Winona City Council member. In his campaign he touted his connections to the river city in southeast Minnesota and said he’s most concerned about the ever-increasing state spending at the legislature under DFL control.
Tery Stier
District: 22B (Belle Plaine)
Who they beat: Stier defeated DFL challenger Sara Nett-Torgrimson by more than 37 percent in the open seat race.
Who they replace: Republican Brian Pfarr elected not to seek a third term.
Background: Stier is the chief of police in Belle Plaine.
Max Rymer
District: 28B (North Branch)
Who they beat: Rymer defeated DFL opponent Mary J. Murphy by more than 30 points for the open seat just north of the Twin Cities metro area.
Who they replace: Republican Anne Neu Brindley retired after four terms in the House. The district is solidly Republican. Neu Brindley was considered one of the more vocal leaders of the House GOP caucus.
Background: Rymer won in his second attempt at a state House seat. In 2016 he ran (and lost) to DFL incumbent Pat Rosenthal in a west metro district that included portions of Bloomington and Eden Prairie. Rymer is a longtime GOP operative and most recently was a key cog in the gubernatorial campaign of Dr. Scott Jensen.
Scott Van Binsbergen
District: 16A (Montevideo)
Who they beat: Van Binsbergen defeated DFL challenger Kathy Hegstad by more than 40 points in the southwest Minnesota seat that was left open by the retirement of 11-term Republican Dean Urdahl.
Who they replace: Urdahl was one of the mainstays of the Minnesota House of Representatives and held several committee leadership positions over the last 20-plus years. He elected not to seek a 12th term.
Background: Van Binsbergen has a career that spans agriculture, healthcare, banking and politics. He was a one-time staff for former U.S. Sen. Rudy Boschwitz. He’s married and has three children.
Steve Gander
District: 1B (East Grand Forks)
Who they beat: Gander defeated DFL opponent Mike Christopherson by more than 34 percent in the northwest Minnesota seat left open by retiring GOP legislator Deb Kiel.
Who they replace: Kiel had served seven terms in the House and held several committee leadership positions in her 14 years.
Background: Gander is an optometrist and has been mayor of East Grand Forks for eight years.
Drew Roach
District: 58B (Farmington)
Who they beat: Roach defeated DFL challenger Ian English by nearly 10 points in the south metro district long held by retiring legislator Pat Garofalo.
Who they replace: Garofalo announced last year he would not seek a new term after nearly 20 years of representing Farmington and its surrounding areas.
Background: Roach is a small business owner and has three children. He was endorsed by Garofalo.
Democrats
Alex Falconer
District: 49A (Eden Prairie)
Who they beat: Falconer defeated GOP challenger Stacie Bettison by nearly 20 points in the west metro district.
Who they replace: Laurie Pryor chose not to seek re-election after four terms.
Background: Falconer, 44, is campaign director for Save the Boundary Waters, a non-profit organization that has advocated against mining expansion in northern Minnesota.
Kari Rehrauer
District: 35B (Coon Rapids)
Who they beat: Rehrauer defeated GOP challenger Steve Pape by just under 300 votes in the swing district seat left open by retiring DFLer Jerry Newton.
Who they replace: Newton elected not to seek a fifth term in the House.
Background: Rehrauer is a staffer for Education Minnesota who ran for state Senate in 2022 and lost to GOP incumbent Jim Abeler.
She was also a one-term Coon Rapids City Council member. On her campaign bio she said, “the presidential election of 2016 changed my life.” She decided to get involved in elected politics because she “was demoralized by the direction of the new (p)resident.”
Huldah Hiltsley
District: 38A (Brooklyn Park)
Who they beat: Hiltsley defeated GOP challenger Brad Olson by 30 percent in an open seat race following the retirement of 11-term DFLer Michael Nelson.
Who they replace: Rep. Michael Nelson
Background: Hiltsley becomes the first Kenyan-born immigrant elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives. She is an employee of Boston Scientific.
Pete Johnson
District: 8A (Duluth)
Who they beat: Johnson defeated GOP challenger Mark McGrew by more than 36 percent in a seat left open after DFLer Liz Olson chose not to seek re-election.
Who they replace: Olson announced last year she wouldn’t seek a fifth term.
Background: Johnson is a firefighter in the city of Duluth.
Anquam Mahamoud
District: 62B (Minneapolis)
Who they beat: Mahamoud defeated GOP challenger Bob Sullentrop by earning more than 87 percent of the vote.
Who they replace: Rep. Hodan Hassan chose not to seek reelection after three terms.
Background: Mahamoud is a mental health administrator who grew up in Minneapolis.
Katie Jones
District: 61A (Minneapolis)
Who they beat: Jones defeated Green Party candidate Toya Lopez by earning nearly 85 percent of the vote. No Republican ran in the heavily blue district. Jones’ biggest competition came in a three-way DFL primary where she bested opponents Will Stancil and DFL legislative staffer Isabel Rolfes.
Who they replace: Rep. Frank Hornstein retired after 11 terms representing the Minneapolis district.
Background: Jones has been employed by a climate organization for nearly a decade. She ran and lost for Minneapolis City Council in 2021.
Julie Greene
District: 50A (Edina)
Who they beat: Greene defeated GOP challenger Owen Michaelson by nearly 30 percent.
Who they replace: Heather Edelson chose not to seek a fourth term and then went on to run for and win a term on the Hennepin County Board.
Background: Greene is a former Edina School Board member.
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.
