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Home , Aisha Gomez, Alice Mann (politician), Ami Wazlawik, Anne Claflin, Brad Tabke, Dan Wolgamott

2018 Election Recap – * Updated * VOTER TURNOUT –78.4%- the previous high was in 2002 STATEWIDE OFFICES Governor & Lt. Governor Elect: Tim Walz/Peggy Flanagan- DFL. https://mn.gov/tim-walz/ Inauguration on January 7, 2019 Leadership appointed: Kristin Beckman, Transit Team Leader – now at Center for Economic Inclusion (former Deputy Mayor of St. Paul to Chris Coleman) Chris Schmitter, attorney, is Chief of Staff (Walz aid) Note: Gov. Dayton defeated Jeff Johnson in 2014 with a 133,000 vote lead in the metro. Walz nearly tripled that lead, defeating Jeff Johnson by 372,000 votes in metro. Lt. Gov. Flanagan will lead the One Minnesota Transition Advisory Board. Interested in working for the Walz/Flanagan administration? They are accepting resumes online. Attorney General: Keith Ellison- DFL Secretary of State: Steve Simon -DFL State Auditor: Julie Blaha- DFL MN SENATE: The one open MN Senate seat (held by Rep. Fischbach) stayed Republican. Former State Representative is now Senator-Elect Jeff Howe. Republicans maintain the control of the Senate 34-33. Leadership elected: -Senate Majority Leader, Jeremy Miller-President of the Senate, Tom Bakk, Senate Minority Leader. MN HOUSE: Republicans had 7 retirements. Democrats had 16 retirements. No sitting DFL State Representative lost their election. The House Democrats needed to win at least 11 seats to take control and they gained 18 seats; two from greater Minnesota. Democrats increased from 57 votes to 75 votes while the Republicans decreased from 77-59 votes. About 30% serving for the first time. (Hs DFL 54.4% of popular vote) There will be one automatic recount in – 5A – Persell/Bliss. There is only an 8-vote difference here 8452 to 8444. Minnesota will have the most one of the most diverse legislatures in history. Minnesota is the only divided state legislature in the nation. The last time there was only one divided state legislature was in 1914. Leadership elected: , Speaker of he House, -Majority Leader, -Minority Leader. House Republican defeated incumbent seats that flipped to Democrats (15): 5A – Matt Bliss – REMATCH - Rep. Elect , former Representative, defeated by Bliss in 2016 14B – Jim Knoblach – REMATCH - Rep. Elect , Realtor [Knoblach suspended his campaign] 33B – Cindy Pugh - Rep. Elect Kelly Mortenson, Physician 34B – Dennis Smith - REMATCH - Rep. Elect Christine Bahner, IT Consultant 42A – Randy Jessup - Rep. Elect , Prosecutor & Victim Rights Advocate 44A – Sarah Anderson - REMATCH - Rep. Elect , Mediator & Strategic Business Consultant 48B – Jennifer Loon - Rep. Elect Carly Kotyza-Whitthuhn, Operations U Management 49A – Dario Anselmo - Rep. Elect , Mental Health Therapist/Guardian Ad Litem 52B - Regina Barr - Rep. Elect Ruth Richardson, Attorney, Mn Org. on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome 53B - Kelly Fenton - Rep. Elect , Teacher & Museum Director 54A - Keith Franke - Rep. Elect , Research Scientist 55A - Bob Loonan/Erik Mortenson - Rep. Elect , former Mayor/Shakopee, Coaches communities on economic development. 56A – Drew Christensen - Rep. Elect , Tutor 56B – Roz Peterson - Rep. Dr. , Family Practice Physician 57B - Ann Wills - REMATCH - John Duffy Huot, Realtor & Health care consultant, E.M. tech with Life Link II for 28 years House Republican open seats that flipped to Democrats (3): 36A – Rep. Elect - Ass’t Hennepin County Attorney/prosecutor, former Hortman campaign manager (Rep. Mark Uglem-R) 38B – Rep. Elect - President of MN NOW, MA Public Policy, background in psychology (Rep. -R) 39B – Rep. Elect - Retired teacher, Stillwater Track Coach (Rep. Kathy Lohmer-R) Open House seats won by Democrats: 6B – Rep. Elect - Aurora Mayor, pro-mining (Rep. Jason Metsa-D) 19A – Rep. Elect - Co-owner Seed to Site LLC, Board Mbr. Coalition of Greater MN Cities/former Mayor (Rep. Clark Johnson-D) 20B – Rep. Elect - Senior Minister/Lutheran Church in Northfield (Rep. David Bly-D) 40B – Rep. Elect - Community Organizer, Co-founder of Progressive Hmong American Organizers, 24 yrs. old (Rep. Deb Hilstrom-D) 44B – Rep. Elect - Minnetonka City Council Member, former MN DNR & Henn. Cty.environment services (Rep. John Applebaum-D) 46A – Rep. Elect Ryan Winkler -Former State Representative elected in 2006/resigned in 2016-wife accepted job in Belgium (Rep. Flanagan-D) 49B – Rep. Elect Steve Elkins - Metropolitan Council Member/District 5, former Bloomington City Council member (Rep. Paul Rosenthal-D) 50A – Rep. Elect Michael Howard - Richfield City Council Member, former MN House staff (Rep Linda Slocum-D) 53A – Rep. Elect - Maplewood city Council Member (formerly Joanne Ward-D) 57A – Rep. Elect Robert Bierman - Business owner, Bierman’s Home Furniture, past Pres. Of local Chamber and Rotary (Rep. Erin Maye Quade-D) 60B – Rep. Elect - Computer scientist, Director of Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota (formerly Ilhan Omar-D) 61B – Rep. Elect - Deputy Chief of Staff for Keith Ellison, director Ellison’s run for DNC Chair (Rep. Paul Thissen- D) 62A – Rep. Elect - Mental Health Practitioner and Educator (Rep. Karen Clark- D) 62B – Rep. Elect - Senior Policy Aid – Mpls 9th Ward (Rep. - D) 64A – Rep. Elect - Doctoral Student (Rep. - D) 67B – Rep. Elect - Community Organizer (Rep. Sheldon Johnson-D) Open House seats won by Republicans: 13A - Rep. Elect - Rocori School Board Member (Rep. Jeff Howe-R) 15B - Rep. Elect - Building Contract/Small business owner (Rep. Jim Newberger-R) 34A - Rep. Elect - Exec Director of Economic Club of MN (Rep. - R) 35A - Rep. Elect John Heinrich - Asphalt/concrete industry, Veteran (Rep. Abigail Whelan- R) 47B - Rep. Elect - Chaska City Council (Rep. Joe Hoppe-R) State Note: Two political parties with candidates on the ballot met the threshold required to earn major party status in Minnesota- Effective Jan 2019 The Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party secured 5.71% of the vote in the Attorney General election. The Legal Marijuana Now Party secured over 5.29% of the vote in the State Auditor election. These political parties will be on future ballots after January 1, 2019.

Election Directory available: https://buff.ly/2JMbl3k Key Dates: State Budget forecast released between end of November and 1st week in December Legislature convenes January 8. Governor Walz biennial budget release in mid-January February Budget & Economic Forecast used by Legislature is establishing their appropriations Committee Deadlines – not yet established – approximately March/April Legislature Adjourns May 20 NATIONAL ELECTIONS US Senate remains in control of Republicans and they have increased their majority. US House will be in control of Democrats for first time in eight years. Of the races called so far, democrats have gained 34 seats 11 House Races not called or too close to call at this time. ***Ten Democrats in a 48-member bi-partisan group are vowing to withhold their support for Pelosi — or any other Speaker nominee — unless the candidate commits, in writing, to certain changes in House rules designed to empower rank-and-file lawmakers and break partisan gridlock.*** MN US SENATORS – Both retained their seats Senator Senator Tina Smith MN CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION – 5 new members serving in the 116th Congress 1st - Flipped Jim Hagedorn (4th try) – now held by Tim Walz – Governor Elect 2nd – Flipped Angie Craig (D) defeated incumbent Jason Lewis (R) 3rd – Flipped Dean Phillips (D) defeated incumbent Erik Paulson (R) 4th Betty McCollum (DFL) retains seat, and has been serving since 2001. 5th Ilhan Omar (DFL) 1st Somali-American 6th Tom Emmer retain seat First elected in 2014, re-elected in 201f 7th Congressman Collin Peterson (D) retains seat - wins 15th term 8th – Flipped Pete Stauber (R) defeated Joe Radinovich (D) for the seat held by Rich Nolan (D) Six State Legislative chambers flipped from Republican to Democratic. Colorado Senate, Maine Senate, Minnesota House and New Hamshire House and Senate, New York Senate. One State Legislative chamber flipped from Democratic to Republican. Alaska House. These 7 flips are below the average of 12 chambers changing party hands in every two-ear election cycle going back to 1900. STATE BALLOT AMENDMENTS ADOPTED: • Florida restored felon voting rights. 64% of voters supported the automatic restoration of voting rights back to convicted felons after they have paid restitution and completed parole, probation or prison time. People convicted of murder and sexual offenses were excluded from this ballot measure. Approximately 1.4 million people will be granted the right to vote in Florida elections. In 2016, it was estimated that more than 418,000 black people, 17.9% of potential black voters in Florida couldn’t vote due to their past felony convictions. • Michigan passed legalization of recreational use of marijuana by 56% to 44%. Adults over the age of 21 will be allowed to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and grow up to 12 plants per household. Michigan will become the 10th state to legalize marijuana possession and use. • Massachusetts passed Gender Identity 70%-30%. Passage of this question preserves the current form of Massachusetts' anti-discrimination law, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of gender identity, race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, disability, and ancestry. • It appears 3 states, Michigan, Colorado and Utah, are transferring the power to redistrict from legislatures and giving it to citizen commissions. The majority of state legislatures are responsible for reapportionment/redistricting. 13 states currently have redistricting commissions to exclusively draw electoral district lines (Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington).

NATIONAL NOTES –

A lot of firsts, including:

✓ 16 Veterans elected ✓ A record breaking 129 women were elected to the in Congress in 2019; up from 112 this year. There will be 35 new women serving in the House. (In 2016 there were 85.) ✓ 12 women elected to the US Senate for a total of 22, two for the first time. ✓ At least 153 LGBT candidates elected. ✓ New York -Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D) 29 years old - the youngest woman in American history to U.S. House ✓ Colorado -First openly gay man to be elected as Colorado Governor is Jared Polis (D). ✓ Minnesota -First Native American woman elected to Minnesota statewide office as Lt. Governor-Peggy Flanagan-DFL ✓ Florida - First Latina elected as Florida Lt. Governor Lopez-Canterra (R) ✓ South Dakota –First woman elected as South Dakota Governor ✓ The first two Native Americans to the U.S. House. Debra Haaland(D)/New Mexico/Sharice David (D), Kansas, who is also the first gay woman elected to Congress from Kansas. ✓ First two Muslim women elected to the US House are Ilhan Omar-D, Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib (D), Michigan (also first Palestinian-American) ✓ First African-American Minnesotan and First Muslim elected to statewide office as Minnesota is Attorney General is Keith Ellison-D ✓ First Black woman elected to represent Massachusetts in Congress is Ayanna Pressley (D) ✓ First openly gay person to be elected to Congress from Minnesota is Angie Craig-D. ✓ First woman to be elected to Senate from Arizona Krysten Sinema (D) ✓ First openly gay person to be elected to Congress from New Hampshire is Chris Pappas (D) New Mexico ✓ First woman to congress from New Mexico is Deb Haaland (D) ✓ First two Latina women elected to Congress from Texas are Veronica Escobar (D) and Sylvia Garcia (D) ✓ First Korean-American woman elected to Congress (Young Kim-R-California) ✓ First woman Senator from Tennessee is Marsha Blackburn (D) ✓ Mississippi Senate election goes to a runoff on November 27 – no candidate earned 50% of the vote. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) had been appointed to the seat to fill a vacancy and Mike Espy (D) is challenging her Sherry Munyon, Capitol Access