In Donald Trump’s historic victory in the 2024 presidential race, the soon-to-be 47th president of the United States won every swing state in the country. However, Minnesota planted itself once again in the Democratic column.
According to the Minnesota Secretary of State, Vice President Kamala Harris beat Trump in Minnesota by just over 4 points, lower than President Joe Biden’s 7-point win in 2020, even though Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was on the top of the ticket this year.
As many heard throughout the 2024 campaign, the North Star State has not been won by a GOP presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1972.
While that trend continued on Tuesday, Trump’s election results in Minnesota are reason for optimism among the GOP, which managed to break up the Minnesota DFL’s trifecta by flipping three seats in the Minnesota House.
One big reason for optimism for Republicans is that Trump won three key Minnesota Senate districts that are currently occupied by Democrats.
The three Minnesota Senate districts
Senate District 3 is occupied by Democrat Grant Hauschild. Currently serving in his first term, Sen. Hauschild represents a large Iron Range district in the northeastern portion of the state. In 2022, Hauschild won election to the seat by 703 votes. On Tuesday, Trump won the district by 752 votes.
In 2022, Democrat Rob Kupec won his first election to the Senate by 1,727 votes. Serving in Senate District 4, Kupec represents Moorhead and a large rural area around the city. In this year’s presidential election, Trump won Kupec’s district by 2,902 votes.
Finally, Democrat Aric Putnam has served in the Senate since 2021. The St. Cloud area legislator won his 2022 reelection campaign to Senate District 14 by 1,381 votes. However, Trump won Sen. Putnam’s district by 1,626 votes.
At present, the Minnesota Senate has 34 Democrats and 33 Republicans. A change in just one seat would give the Republicans a majority. The full Minnesota Senate is up for election in 2026.
Given Trump’s strong performance in these three districts, future control of the Minnesota Senate will likely run through those seats.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
