A close legislature and an unusually incomplete slate
The Minnesota ballot includes all 201 legislative seats this November. Republicans have no candidate in 17 of the 134 House races and four Senate contests, while DFL candidates filed in every race, according to MinnPost. The outlet’s review of state voting data found no lower candidate total for a major party in a House-and-Senate election year since at least the 1990s.
The candidate gap comes after two years of narrow legislative margins. MPR News reports that the House finished the last biennium tied 67-67 and the Senate with a 34-33 DFL edge; a majority requires 68 House votes or 34 Senate votes. Separately, Ballotpedia figures cited in the original reporting show 26 of the 134 House seats are open this year, compared with 20 in 2024.
Most of the missing challengers are in the metro
Sixteen of the 17 House races without a Republican are in the Twin Cities metro or its inner-ring suburbs. The exception is House District 18B in Mankato, where DFL Rep. Luke Frederick is unopposed. MinnPost reports that Frederick won 56% of the vote in 2024 and 60% in 2022.
MPR News identifies Woodbury and Plymouth among the communities with no Republican House candidate. Shelley Buck is unopposed in Woodbury’s 47A, and Rep. Ethan Cha is running without a GOP challenger in 47B. In Plymouth, DFL Rep. Ginny Klevorn is unopposed. Mankato, Golden Valley and North St. Paul are also among the areas with affected House races, according to MPR News.
Different readings of the candidate gap
MPR News reports two contrasting interpretations. Republican strategist Preya Samsundar said the party is focusing on defending incumbents and contests it considers more winnable, with the cost of challenging incumbents a factor. DFL House leader Zack Stephenson views the number of uncontested races as a sign of weak Republican enthusiasm and questioned whether the party can turn out voters. Those are their assessments, not a settled measure of what the candidate totals will mean for November’s results.
