Minnesota 2026 Midterm Election Guide
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This election guide summarizes candidates’ stated priorities and relevant experience in five Minnesota races: Governor, U.S. Senate, Attorney General, Hennepin County attorney and Rasmey County Commssioners.
To find all the candidates and offices on your ballot, check out the Minnesota Secretary of State’s candidate finder.
Governor of Minnesota
The governor leads the state’s executive branch, signs or vetoes legislation, proposes state budgets, appoints department leaders and works with the Legislature on state policy. The governor serves a four-year term.
Amy Klobuchar (DFL)
Klobuchar is a U.S. senator from Minnesota and a former Hennepin County attorney. Her campaign emphasizes her government experience and efforts to address household costs.
Stated priorities
Lower health care and housing costs.
Improve government accountability and prevent fraud.
Strengthen public safety.
Expand access to child care, workforce training and economic opportunities.
Support rural communities and agriculture.
Lisa Demuth (R)
Demuth is speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. Her campaign emphasizes lower taxes, fraud prevention, public safety and changes to state government.
Stated priorities
Reduce income taxes for families, lower vehicle registration fees and eliminate state taxes on Social Security benefits.
Establish a statewide Office of Inspector General to investigate fraud across government.
Increase resources for law enforcement and strengthen sentences for repeat offenders.
Reduce permitting delays and encourage business investment.
Change education policy to emphasize academic achievement and reading proficiency.
Revisit state energy policy, including Minnesota’s restrictions on new nuclear power.
U.S. Senate
U.S. senators serve six-year terms and vote on federal legislation, spending measures, treaties and presidential nominations. The winner of this race will succeed retiring Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith.
Peggy Flanagan (DFL)
Flanagan is Minnesota’s lieutenant governor. Her previous public service includes serving in the Minnesota House, on the Minneapolis School Board and in leadership at the Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota.
Stated priorities
Expand access to health care, including support for Medicare for All.
Raise the federal minimum wage and expand access to child care.
Address housing affordability and institutional investment in residential properties.
Reform immigration enforcement and hold federal agencies accountable for misconduct.
Limit corporate influence in elections and federal policymaking.
Michele Tafoya (R)
Tafoya is a former sports broadcaster who entered electoral politics as a first-time candidate.
Stated priorities
Combat fraud in government programs.
Strengthen law enforcement and address gang violence.
Reduce taxes and living costs.
Increase immigration enforcement and support stricter deportation policies.
Challenge government policies she considers ineffective or overly costly.
Minnesota Attorney General
The attorney general represents Minnesota and its agencies in legal matters, enforces certain consumer protection laws, investigates and prosecutes specified types of fraud, and brings legal actions on behalf of the state or its residents.
The winner of the general-election will serve a four-year term.
Keith Ellison (DFL)
Ellison has served as Minnesota attorney general since 2019 and is seeking a third term.
Stated priorities
Pursue consumer protection cases involving alleged unlawful price increases and anticompetitive conduct.
Continue enforcement against fraud in public programs.
Challenge federal actions in court when his office believes they unlawfully threaten state funding or policies.
Pursue violent crime and financial wrongdoing within the office’s jurisdiction.
Ron Schutz (R)
Schutz is a private-practice attorney and former prosecutor in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
Stated priorities
Strengthen enforcement against fraud and corruption in state programs.
Support law enforcement.
Change state policy on transgender participation in girls’ sports.
Restore what he describes as integrity and public confidence in the attorney general’s office.
Hennepin County Attorney
The Hennepin County attorney oversees felony prosecutions and juvenile prosecutions in the county, works with law enforcement agencies and makes decisions about criminal charges and diversion.
The office is nonpartisan, although candidates may receive political party endorsements.
Cedrick Frazier
Frazier is a Minnesota state representative from New Hope and a former New Hope City Council member. His legal experience includes work as legal counsel for Minneapolis Public Schools and as a labor attorney representing educators. He has served as vice chair of the Minnesota House Public Safety and Judiciary committees.
Stated priorities
Hold federal agents accountable: Prosecute federal immigration agents who violate Minnesota law and refuse to cooperate with ICE on immigration enforcement.
Center victims and survivors: Establish a Victim and Survivor Advisory Council, improve communication with victims and expand access to trauma-informed services, including counseling and relocation assistance.
Reduce gun violence: Give nonfatal shootings the same urgent attention as homicides, use specialized prosecutors and investigators, and expand evidence-based violence prevention programs.
Build public trust: Make data on charging decisions more accessible, increase community engagement and establish an independent Public Integrity Unit to investigate police use of force, public corruption and civil rights violations.
Combat wage theft and fraud: Use investigative authority to pursue wage theft and aggressively prosecute financial crimes and recover stolen funds.
Address fentanyl and substance use: Prioritize prosecution of drug traffickers while supporting treatment and rehabilitation for people with substance use disorders.
Strengthen youth accountability and prevention: Expand early intervention, work with schools and families, and support community-based services while holding young people accountable for serious violence.
Protect victims and immigrant communities: Support survivors of domestic violence, help eligible immigrant victims and witnesses obtain legal protections, and review past convictions when evidence raises questions about innocence.
Protect democracy and civil rights: Prosecute election-related crimes and hate crimes, and defend access to reproductive health care.
Anders Folk
Folk is a former federal prosecutor who served as acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota in 2021. He later worked as a partner in the Minneapolis office of Jones Day.
His campaign emphasizes public safety, accountability and changes to how the county attorney’s office operates.
Stated priorities
Hold federal agents accountable: Pursue investigations and prosecutions involving federal agents accused of violating Minnesota law during Operation Metro Surge.
Target violent and repeat offenders: Focus enforcement on people who commit violent crimes or repeatedly endanger public safety.
Expand prevention and intervention: Use prevention programs and alternatives to prosecution when appropriate to keep people out of the criminal justice system.
Improve office operations: Implement his proposed first-100-days plan and changes outlined in his policy platform.
Strengthen public safety leadership: Reorient the county attorney’s office toward public safety and improve its working relationships with law enforcement.
Ramsey County Commissioner — District 5
The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners sets county policy, approves the county budget and property-tax levy, and oversees services including housing assistance, public health, human services, corrections and transportation-related investments. Commissioners serve four-year terms and are elected by district in nonpartisan elections.
District 5 includes downtown St. Paul, the West Side, West Seventh, Highland Park, Macalester-Groveland and other St. Paul neighborhoods. The seat is open because longtime Commissioner Rafael Ortega is retiring after serving since 1994.
María Isa Pérez-Vega
Pérez-Vega is a Minnesota state representative, musician and producer, and small-
business owner. Her legislative work has included initiatives involving early childhood education, community development and public services.
Stated priorities
Protect county services, including health care, food assistance and housing support, amid potential reductions in federal funding.
Revitalize downtown St. Paul through development and investment in projects such as RiversEdge and Rice Creek Commons.
Expand the county's tax base through economic development, which she says could help ease property-tax pressures.
Make county decision-making more inclusive and ensure residents who rely on public services have a meaningful voice.
Support affordable housing and community-based responses to homelessness.
Strengthen privacy protections and restrict surveillance technology, including ending the use of Flock cameras.
Rebecca Noecker
Noecker is president of the St. Paul City Council and represents Ward 2. She has served on the council since 2016, working on housing, development, transportation and neighborhood policy.
Stated priorities
Address affordability and property taxes by returning county-owned land to productive use and expanding the county's tax base.
Establish a countywide payment-in-lieu-of-taxes program to encourage tax-exempt organizations to contribute toward county services.
Expand supportive housing and shelter capacity, including housing with on-site mental health and substance-use services.
Fund outreach workers to connect people experiencing homelessness with housing, counseling, employment and other services.
Strengthen protections for residents in response to federal immigration enforcement and address concerns about law-enforcement surveillance technology.
Other Ramsey County commissioner races
Three other commissioner districts have candidates on the November ballot:
District 3 — Garrison McMurtrey and Greg Copeland: McMurtrey, the incumbent, emphasizes affordable housing, economic development and maintaining county services. Copeland, a former Maplewood city manager, emphasizes reducing county spending and property taxes and reconsidering some major county projects.
District 4 — Rena Moran: The incumbent and former state representative is the only candidate listed for the district. Her priorities include affordable housing, family services, workforce development and criminal justice reform.
District 6 — Mai Chong Xiong: The incumbent is the only candidate listed for the district. Her priorities include affordable housing, access to county services, public transit and environmental health in East Side neighborhoods.
Find information, request a ballot, track your ballot, and check your voting options at mnvotes.gov.
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