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We hope you voted! Tuesday was the last day to vote in the Minnesota Primary Election. The results are in, and some are surprising! The point of the primary election is to elect one candidate from each party to be on the ballot in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Race for U.S. House Representatives:
Seven candidates that we’ll see on the ballot in November ran uncontested for the U.S. House. The races that created the most buzz were for the first and fifth congressional districts.
The first congressional district saw a special election on top of the regularly scheduled primary. The previous representative was Jim Hagedorn, who passed away earlier this year, leaving a congressional seat open. Republican Brad Finstad won his seat for the remaining four months of the term, but his name and the Democratic nominee, Jeff Ettinger, will appear on the ballot again in November to compete for the next full term. Finstad is proud to support Donald Trump, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and consistently talks about “protecting freedoms,”... but we are currently unsure of whose freedoms he’s talking about. Ettinger is more moderate and labels his key policies as lowering the cost of living, protecting reproductive rights, and investing more into public schools, teachers, and public transportation to ensure equal access to education and opportunity.
The fifth congressional district’s Democratic race was much closer than many thought. Incumbent Ilhan Omar won the nomination over Don Samuels by only a little over 2,000 votes. One of the critical differences in viewpoints between the two is crime and policing, with Samuels criticizing Omar’s calls to “defund the police”. Voting support ramped up for the Samuels after “pro-police” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey endorsed him. Regardless, Ilhan holds on to her nomination for the party going into the November general election.
Race for Minnesota Governor:
In the race for Governor, incumbent Tim Walz beat his Democratic opponent with over 415,000 votes (96.5% of the vote). Walz has served as Governor since 2019. On his campaign website, he highlights his accomplishments under his leadership. Some of these successes are decreasing costs and increasing access to affordable health care, providing historic investments in students and families to ensure equal access to education and opportunities, and creating an initiative to tackle climate change, amongst other issues. Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan said, “Minnesotans should feel safe in their communities, regardless of race, gender, or geography”. They put those words into action by passing public safety reforms, protecting abortion rights, and providing relief to small businesses when COVID struck.
The Republican nominee will be Scott Jensen, receiving just shy of 290,000 votes from Minnesotans. Scott Jensen is running his campaign on contradictions. On his campaign website, he says that Minnesota needs to “Make decisions based on science” despite being a “pro-life” and unvaccinated doctor under his fifth investigation from the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice. His main issue, though, is the “crime epidemic” in Minnesota. He states, “Every week there are senseless shootings on the streets of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the surrounding communities. Our urban areas have become dangerous places and innocent children are caught in the crossfire”. Despite these statements, Jensen also released three videos on “what the Second Amendment means to him” and said that he would not sign red flag laws or universal background check laws and that he would sign an “anti-red flag law."
Upcoming General Election:
If you didn’t vote in the primary election, you can (and should) still vote in the general election. Find out who represents your district, register to vote, and make a plan to vote in November. Other positions up for election this year are for the State Senate, State House, Attorney General, Auditor, and Secretary of State.
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