2018 United States Senate special election in Minnesota
The 2018 United States Senate special election in Minnesota took place on November 6, 2018, to elect a United States Senator from Minnesota to replace incumbent Democratic Senator Al Franken until the regular expiration of the term on January 3, 2021. Facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, Franken announced on December 7, 2017, that he would resign effective January 2, 2018. Governor Mark Dayton appointed his successor, Tina Smith, on December 13, 2017, and she ran in the special election. This election coincided with a regularly scheduled U.S. Senate election for the Class 1 Senate seat, U.S. House elections, a gubernatorial election, State House elections, and other elections.
The candidate filing deadline was June 5, 2018, and the primary election was held on August 14, 2018. Smith won the Democratic primary and defeated Republican nominee Karin Housley in the general election.
DFL primary
Candidates
Nominated
- Tina Smith, incumbent U.S. Senator
Eliminated in primary
- Ali Chehem
- Gregg A. Iverson, perennial candidate
- Nick Leonard, attorney and activist
- Richard Painter, University of Minnesota Law School professor and former White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush
- Christopher Lovell Seymore Sr.
Declined
- Keith Ellison, U.S. Representative
- Betty McCollum, U.S. Representative
- Rick Nolan, U.S. Representative
- Collin Peterson, U.S. Representative
- Patricia Torres Ray, state senator
- Tim Walz, U.S. Representative
- Lori Swanson, Attorney General of Minnesota
- Jake Sullivan, former National Security Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden
- Scott Dibble, state senator
- Melisa Franzen, state senator
Endorsements
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominated
- Karin Housley, state senator
Eliminated in primary
- Bob Anderson, businessman
- Nikolay Nikolayevich Bey
Declined
- Michele Bachmann, former U.S. Representative
- Christopher Chamberlin
- Norm Coleman, former U.S. Senator
- Tom Emmer, U.S. Representative
- Jenifer Loon, state representative
- Tim Pawlenty, former governor of Minnesota
- Julie Rosen, Minnesota state senator
- Sarah Anderson, Minnesota state representative
- Michelle Benson, state senator
- Kurt Daudt, Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives
- Paul Gazelka, Majority Leader of the Minnesota Senate
- Amy Koch, former Minnesota state senator
- Pete Hegseth, veteran, Fox News Contributor and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012
- Jason Lewis, U.S. Representative
- Mike Lindell, CEO of My Pillow
- Stewart Mills III, businessman and nominee for MN-08 in 2014 and 2016
- Erik Paulsen, U.S. Representative
- Joyce Peppin, Majority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives
Endorsements
Results
Minor parties and independents
Candidates
- Jerry Trooien, real estate developer
- Sarah Wellington
General election
Predictions
^Highest rating givenEndorsements
Fundraising
Polling
Hypothetical polling | - | - | - | - | - | - |
ResultsSmith won the election by 10.62 percentage points. Her margin was similar to that of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tim Walz, who defeated his Republican opponent by 11.41%. Both of those margins of victory were much smaller than that of senior Senator Amy Klobuchar, who on the same day defeated her Republican opponent by 24.1 points. Smith won by huge margins in the Democratic strongholds of Hennepin County and Ramsey County, home of Minneapolis and St. Paul respectively. She also managed a 10% margin of victory in suburban Dakota County, just outside Minneapolis, and won St. Louis County, home of Duluth. Housley won most of the state's rural areas. Turnout was high for a midterm election, with over 63% of registered voters in Minnesota casting ballots.Voter demographics |