Minnesota voters are deciding who will take over as the state's chief financial watchdog, with DFLer Zack Filipovich, Republican Scott Jensen and Forward Independence candidate Jay Reeves on the ballot to replace outgoing Auditor Julie Blaha. Results begin coming in after polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday, and the office's next occupant will inherit oversight of thousands of local government budgets across the state.
Blaha, who has held the position since 2019, opted not to seek reelection this year, according to MinnPost. That left an open seat in a role Republicans have not won since 2007, as KSTP has reported. The winner will begin a four-year term in January, according to a KAXE election guide.
Who's Running for the Office
Filipovich, a former Duluth City Council president, is campaigning as the only accountant in the field — a distinction KSTP's reporting on the three-way contest confirms. He has framed his pitch around visiting all 87 Minnesota counties to connect with local leaders and identify what resources and training the auditor's office could offer, a goal detailed in MPR News's rundown of the race. Filipovich has also said he wants to address a shortage of finance professionals in Greater Minnesota and improve resource sharing among local governments, while proposing open houses to explain what the office actually does.
Jensen, a doctor who practiced family medicine in Carver County for 40 years, served in the Minnesota Senate from 2017 to 2021 and as vice chair of the chamber's Health and Human Services Committee. He also spent two decades on the Citizens' Alliance Bank board of directors. His campaign has centered on rooting out fraud, with Sahan Journal reporting that Jensen is running on a platform focused squarely on fraud prevention, and he has said his experience would help him build a team to fight fraud, waste and abuse, per the same MPR News account. Jensen has also proposed conducting random, unannounced audits if elected.
Reeves, running under the Forward Independence banner, has centered his campaign on transparency and technology. He has said his priorities include increasing interactive public transparency, using continuous monitoring to combat cybersecurity threats, and directing audit attention where it is most needed, according to KSTP's candidate overview.
What the Polls Showed Before Election Day
The race tightened and then shifted sharply in the campaign's final weeks. A KSTP/SurveyUSA poll found Filipovich had moved into a one-point lead over Jensen after trailing by seven points the previous month — a swing the station called a major shift. MPR News's separate account of that same survey put Filipovich ahead by one percentage point, with 14 percent of voters still undecided.
By the campaign's final stretch, that edge widened further. KSTP/SurveyUSA's last poll before Election Day showed Filipovich had pushed his lead to six points, with gains among both voters under 50 and those over 50 compared to the outlet's earlier survey. The same poll found Filipovich ahead by 15 points among voters under 50, while Jensen held a narrower three-point edge among voters over 50, and Filipovich led by five points among self-described moderates, a group where 20 percent remained undecided heading into Tuesday.
What the Auditor's Office Actually Does
Whoever wins will oversee an office with financial oversight responsibility for cities, counties, towns and special districts across Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Office of the State Auditor's own description of its work. The office says it performs roughly 100 financial and compliance audits and reviews about 450 single audits each year, a workload meant to promote accountability and financial integrity for the state's taxpayers.
As of Tuesday evening, no vote totals had been reported in the race. Results from across Minnesota are expected to come in through the night following the 8 p.m. close of polls, with FOX 9 among the outlets tracking returns as they arrive.
