Political party strength in Minnesota
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The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Minnesota:
- Governor
- Lieutenant Governor
- Secretary of State
- Attorney General
- State Auditor
- State Treasurer (before 2003)
The table also indicates the historical party composition in the:
- State Senate
- State House of Representatives
- State delegation to the United States Senate
- State delegation to the United States House of Representatives
For years in which a United States presidential election was held, the table indicates which party's nominees received the state's electoral votes.
Pre-statehood (1849–1857)
| Year | Executive offices | Territorial Legislature | United States Congress | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Territorial Secretary | Attorney General | Auditor | Treasurer | Terr. Senate | Terr. House | Delegate | |
| 1849 | Alexander Ramsey (W)[a] | Charles K. Smith (W) | Lorenzo A. Babcock (W) | Jonathan E. McKusick (W) | Calvin A. Tuttle (W) | 6D, 2W, 1? | 12D, 4W, 2? | Henry Hastings Sibley (D)[b] |
| 1850 | ||||||||
| 1851 | Alexander C. Wilkin (W) | 8D, 7?, 3W | ||||||
| 5D, 4?, 2W | ||||||||
| 1852 | Abraham Van Vorhes (W) | 7D, 2W | 10D, 5?, 3W | |||||
| 1853 | Willis A. Gorman (D)[c] | Joseph Rosser (D) | LaFayette Emmett (D) | Socrates Nelson (D) | George W. Prescott (D) | 13D, 3W, 2? | Henry M. Rice (D)[b] | |
| 1854 | Julius Georgii (D) | Charles E. Leonard (D) | 9D | 13D, 5W | ||||
| 1855 | 13D, 4?, 1R | |||||||
| 1856 | 9D, 4?, 2R | 18D, 12R, 9? | ||||||
| 8D, 4?, 2R | 19D, 11R, 9? | |||||||
| 6D, 4?, 2R | ||||||||
| 1857 | Samuel Medary (D)[d] | Charles L. Chase (D) | George W. Armstrong (D) | 6D, 5R, 4? | 20R, 18D | William W. Kingsbury (D)[b] | ||
| 20R, 19D | ||||||||
| 19R, 19D | ||||||||
| 20R, 19D | ||||||||
| 20D, 17R | 43D, 37R | |||||||
1858–2002
2003–present
- ^ Territorial governor appointed by President Zachary Taylor.
- ^ a b c Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota Territory.
- ^ Territorial governor appointed by President Franklin Pierce.
- ^ Territorial governor appointed by President James Buchanan.
- ^ a b Although legislators were elected, it was determined that an 1858-59 session was unnecessary due to the protracted length of the 1857-58 session; hence, these legislators never convened and were never sworn in.
- ^ a b c d e Resigned to become U.S. Senator.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Resigned.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Succeeded to office following death or resignation of previous officeholder.
- ^ Lost renomination.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Died in office.
- ^ Lost renomination.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Appointed by governor to fill vacancy.
- ^ Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
- ^ Resigned following impeachment but before trial by Minnesota Senate.[1]
- ^ Appointed by governor to fill vacancy in early 1873. Later elected to office in his own right as a Democrat.
- ^ Dyke did not win the endorsement of the Republican Party in 1873, but sought the Democratic endorsement and won with it.
- ^ Lost renomination.
- ^ a b Due to a constitutional amendment, effective with the election of 1878, terms for senators became four years and terms for representatives became two years.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Appointed to fill the remainder of the previous officeholder's term. Later elected in their own right.
- ^ Lost renomination.
- ^ Elected a Republican President Pro Tempore, John B. Sanborn, and organized the chamber.
- ^ A coalition of Democrats and members of the Farmers' Alliance organized the chamber and elected an Alliance Speaker, Ezra T. Champlin.[2]
- ^ a b c d e Succeeded to office following death or resignation of previous officeholder. Later elected to office in his or her own right.
- ^ Lost renomination.
- ^ Had also been endorsed by the Populists/
Silver Republicans. - ^ a b c Resigned following appointment to Minnesota Supreme Court.
- ^ Lost renomination.
- ^ a b After a constitutional amendment in 1912, the Minnesota Legislature was nonpartisan until 1973. It went into effect in 1915 Legislators caucused as "conservatives" and "liberals," roughly equivalent to Republicans and Democrats/Farmer Laborites.
- ^ Lost renomination.
- ^ Lost renomination.
- ^ Served as acting lieutenant governor; never took the oath of office.
- ^ The Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party merged into the Minnesota Democratic Party in 1944.
- ^ a b Resigned to become Vice President of the United States.
- ^ Resigned to become administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration.
- ^ Constitutional amendment passed in 1956 making the clerk an appointed, nonpartisan position.
- ^ a b A recount and subsequent litigation lasting 139 days delayed Karl Rolvaag's inauguration as governor.
- ^ From 1975 until 1995, the Republican Party of Minnesota was called the Independent–Republican Party of Minnesota.
- ^ A series of special elections and party switches led to the composition in the 1978 session.[4]
- ^ With the split chamber, a power-sharing agreement was negotiated. A Republican Speaker, Rod Searle, was elected, but Democrats received control of most committees. The tie was broken when a Republican, Robert Pavlak, was expelled from the chamber on May 19, 1979 on a party-line vote due to a legal and ethical violations. The agreement of shared-power held through the end of the year's session two days later, despite the Democrats' 67-66 majority.[5][6]
- ^ Appointed by governor to fill vacancy, having already been elected to next full term.
- ^ A special election was held for Pavlak's seat in District 67A. A Democrat, Frank J. Rodriguez, Jr., was elected, giving the Democrats a constitutional majority. With that, they reorganized the chamber under their control in the 1980 session.[5][4]
- ^ A party switch from Republican to Independent by Charles Berg led to the composition in the 1985 session.[3]
- ^ A party switch from Independent to DFL by Charles Berg led to the composition in the 1986 session.[3]
- ^ Dutcher switched parties in 2000.
- ^ A series of special elections and party switches led to the composition in the 2000 session.[4]
- ^ A party switch from Republican to Independent by Doug Reuter led to the composition in the 2000 session.[4]
- ^ In December 2007, Republican Tom Neuville resigned to accept a District Court appointment.
- ^ In January 2008, Democrat Kevin Dahle was elected in a special election to succeed Republican Tom Neuville.
- ^ In July 2008, Republican incumbent Ron Erhardt became an independent.
- ^ A seat flipped from Democratic to Republican in February through a special election.[8]
- ^ Four Republicans announced on December 8, 2018, they would not join the Republican caucus in the 91st Legislature and would instead form their own caucus, the "New House Republican Caucus."[9]
- ^ Tom Bakk and David Tomassoni were re-elected as Democrats in the 2020 election, but switched to Independent immediately after.
- ^ Five Republicans do not caucus with the Republican minority, see note [an]
- ^ In addition to the five Republicans that do not caucus with the Republic Minority, representative John Thompson was expelled from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor caucus
See also
References
- ^ Nordby, Mary Jane Morrison. Foreword by Jack (2002). The Minnesota state constitution : a reference guide. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Greenwood Press. p. 10. ISBN 0-313-28411-3.
- ^ "Speakers of the Minnesota House of Representatives, 1849-present - Minnesota Legislative Reference Library". www.lrl.mn.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Party Control of the Minnesota Senate - Minnesota Legislative Reference Library". www.leg.mn.gov.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Party Control of the Minnesota House of Representatives - Minnesota Legislative Reference Library". www.leg.mn.gov.
- ^ a b Loepp, Daniel (1999). Sharing the balance of power : an examination of shared power in the Michigan House of Representatives, 1993-94. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 24. ISBN 0472097024. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ "Journal of the House" (PDF). Minnesota Legislature. Minnesota State Legislature. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ "Ventura Leaving Reform Party". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
- ^ Van Oot, Torey. "Republican Jason Rarick wins Minnesota Senate seat vacated by Democrat". Star Tribune. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Bakst, Brian (December 8, 2018). "Renegade House members split from GOP caucus". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
| Recognized major parties | |
|---|---|
| Recognized minor parties | |
| Other minor parties | |
| Historical parties | |
