The latest: Election Day 2026

Despite a rainy morning, voters were lined up outside the recreation center in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood in south Minneapolis to vote when the polls opened at 7 a.m.

A steady stream of voters reported a smooth, cheerful voting experience in this heavily Democratic area.

House painter Drew Hance was one of the first voters to cast his ballot at the recreation center in Powderhorn Park. Hance said he supports "whatever leader is going to respond to the ICE occupation."

"I don't agree with every single Democratic position, but I still think it's important to come out and vote and make sure that our votes are counted," he said.

Local entrepreneur Karen Paurus said she enjoys voting on Election Day and ran into two friends while voting. Paurus said voters shouldn't let the rain stop them.

"It's imperative that people vote. Rain jackets, slickers, whatever. You're Minnesotans. You're used to weather," she said.

In Hennepin County, voters are electing a new county attorney after Mary Moriarty announced she would not seek a second term.

The contest between former acting Minnesota U.S. Attorney Anders Folk and Democratic state Rep. Cedrick Frazier will decide who runs the state’s largest prosecutor’s office.

Folk is a former military lawyer who later worked as a federal prosecutor for both Republican and Democratic presidential administrations. He served as acting U.S. attorney during President Joe Biden’s administration.

Frazier has worked as a public defender in Hennepin County, as well as an attorney for Minneapolis Public Schools and a labor attorney for the teachers union Education Minnesota.

Folk has been endorsed by a number of local law enforcement leaders, including Sheriff Dawanna Witt, as well as by more moderate Democrats like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Rep. Angie Craig.

Frazier came in first in the nonpartisan primary for the office and received the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party endorsement. He’s endorsed by more progressive Democrats including state Attorney General Keith Ellison, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.

Past reporting from MPR News correspondent Jon Collins contributed to this report.

Every Minnesota voter will see a constitutional amendment on their ballot on Election Day.

Increasing funding to school districts

Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to increase the funding going to all school districts from the permanent school fund, which is a fund that supports school districts without raising individual income or property taxes, effective July 1, 2027?

Minnesotans will be asked to vote “yes” or “no” on the measure. Leaving the question blank counts as a “no” vote. A majority of voters must vote “yes” for the amendment to be passed.

What is the Permanent School Fund?

Part of the way Minnesota pays for its public schools is through something called a Permanent School Fund that has been in place for nearly 170 years. The fund relies on timber and mining lease revenue from trust land that is invested by the state and then distributed to school districts.

The fund is somewhere around $2.3 billion and growing by approximately 8 percent each year. But schools only receive interest and dividends, not capital gains, which means that the more than 500 schools and districts getting payouts from the fund are seeing only 2.5 percent of the fund’s value.

What is Constitutional Amendment 1?

A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to change that. During the last legislative session, lawmakers agreed to put a question on the ballot that would allow schools to get full access to the funds — a 4.5 percent return on investment instead of the current 2.5 percent.

The change would not raise the tax burden in Minnesota.

If it passes, the measure would result in about $33 per pupil in extra income for students.

In Minneapolis, that would add another $900,000 to the budget. In Duluth, if the measure passes, it would mean an increase of $280,000.

Past reporting from MPR News education reporter Elizabeth Shockman contributed to this report.

Minnesota voters will elect a new governor and new senator Tuesday after retirement announcements by two prominent Democrats caused a reshuffling throughout the ballot. Voters will also decide races for other federal and state offices, including contests across the state that could determine control of both chambers of the narrowly divided state Legislature.

The state has been at the center of a political maelstrom in President Donald Trump’s second term, as the Republican president has focused much of his ire on Minnesota and its Democratic leaders.

In the Senate race, Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Republican Michele Tafoya, a former sports broadcaster, are among four candidates vying to replace Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, who announced in 2025 that she would not seek a second full term.

Flanagan defeated Rep. Angie Craig in the Aug. 11 primary, 59 percent to 39 percent, in one of several Democratic primary matchups this year where progressive candidates outperformed establishment favorites. Smith backed Flanagan in the primary, as did Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Ilhan Omar of the 5th Congressional District. Outgoing Democratic Gov. Tim Walz did not make an endorsement.

Tafoya defeated eight candidates in her primary, including former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze, who had the state party’s endorsement. Trump did not back any candidate in the primary but later endorsed Tafoya for the general election.

In the race for governor, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth are among three candidates running to replace Walz. Demuth was the top vote-getter in a seven-candidate primary field that included prominent 2020 election denier and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, who had Trump’s endorsement. Klobuchar faced minimal opposition for the Democratic nomination.

All seats in both chambers of the Minnesota state Legislature are up in 2026. Democrats have a one-seat advantage in the 67-member state Senate. In the 134-member state House, Democrats and Republicans were deadlocked at 67 seats each until a Republican member vacated his seat after the session adjourned for the year.

Trump lost Minnesota in all three of his presidential campaigns. His best showing was in 2016, when he came within 1.5 percentage points of victory. He lost by about 4 points in 2024, receiving 46.7 percent of the vote.

In statewide races, Democrats typically post big wins in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in Hennepin and Ramsey counties. They also typically carry the Duluth area in the northeast and the Rochester area in the southeast. Republicans have performed best in smaller, more rural counties across the state.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s 2006 reelection was the last statewide contest Republicans won in Minnesota. The last Republican to win a U.S. Senate race in Minnesota was Norm Coleman in 2002.

Here are some of the key facts about the election:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 8 p.m. If you were in line before 8 p.m., you can stay in line to vote.

What’s on my ballot?

Enter your address to get a personalized look at your ballot with MPR News’ Build Your Ballot tool.

Where do I vote?

You can find your polling place at the secretary of state’s website.

How do I register vote on Election Day?

If you are registering to vote at a polling place on Election Day, you will need to provide proof of residence. Some examples of proof of residence include the following:

• Valid Minnesota driver’s license, learner’s permit or ID or their receipt

• Tribal ID with name, address, photo and signature

• U.S. Passport, U.S. Military or Veteran ID or Approved photo ID (can be expired) along with an approved document, such as a utility or rent bill, that confirms your home address

• Bringing along a registered voter from your precinct to sign an oath and vouch for you

• Photo ID with a student housing list

• Valid registration in the same precinct

• Notice of Late Registration

• Staff person of a residential facility

To check your voter registration status, visit the secretary of state’s website.

How many people actually vote?

About 2.5 million votes were cast in Minnesota’s 2022 election for governor.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 27 percent of the vote in the 2022 gubernatorial election was cast early in person or by mail.

Early voting for this year’s midterm is at a record high in Minnesota. The secretary of state reported more than 886,000 ballots cast through Sunday; it could reach 1 million by the end of Monday.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Counties are expected to release results from early in-person and mail voting throughout the night, along with results from in-person Election Day voting. The first vote reports of the night are expected to include results from all vote types.

Hennepin County, the state’s most populous, expects to release complete results from all vote types in the first vote update. Ramsey and Dakota counties are expected to release relatively few results in their first vote updates, regardless of vote type.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2024 general election, the AP first reported results at 8:08 p.m. CT, or eight minutes after polls closed. The vote count reached the halfway point at 10:40 p.m. The last vote update of the night was at 4:19 a.m. Wednesday with more than 99 percent of total votes counted.

How do recounts work?

Recounts in Minnesota are not automatic, but the losing candidate may request one under certain circumstances. A publicly funded recount can be requested in federal, judicial or state constitutional offices, like governor, if the margin between the winning and losing candidate is less than 0.25 percent of the vote. For state legislative races, the required margin is less than 0.5 percent of the vote. In races in which fewer than 400 votes are cast, the margin is 10 votes or fewer. Candidates may pay for a recount in races in which the vote margin is beyond the threshold for a publicly funded recount.

Across dozens of polling locations across the Twin Cities, there will be people in reflective vests labeled “poll chaplains.” They're nonpartisan clergy and lay people, who are trained to bring a calm and caring presence to polling sites, many of which are at places of worship.

It’s part of the statewide initiative Healing Democracy. More than 150 people have been trained as part of the effort.

Chaplains are trained to follow state law, which includes maintaining a 100-foot distance from polling locations. They’re also trained on de-escalation and trauma awareness.

Poll chaplain and pastor Kelly Sherman-Conroy explained to Minnesota Now host Nina Moini that they’re often responding to fears about whether the voting process may be disrupted. They’re also responding to election misinformation.

“We listen and accompany people who may want support in different ways, and we help connect them with the right resources,” said Sherman-Conroy.

Those resources include the Secretary of State’s office and sometimes guiding voters to election judges already at polling locations.

This year, for the first time there will also be “digital chaplains” who will also be offering accurate voting information and trying to calm online spaces that can quickly become volatile.

“We share things like grounding practices or connect people with reliable resources, and help keep this conversation from becoming more harmful,” said Sherman-Conroy.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation with Minnesota Now host Nina Moini and Sherman-Conroy.

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin rallied with Minnesota Democrats on Monday as they entered the final leg of campaigning ahead of Election Day.

Martin, the former chair of the Minnesota DFL Party, joined his successor in that role, Richard Carlbom, along with gubernatorial candidate Amy Klobuchar, her running mate Ben Schierer, Attorney General Keith Ellison, U.S. Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan, and several other legislative candidates and supporters at Boom Island Brewing in Minnetonka.

Martin said he’s hopeful about the outlook for Democrats around the country, highlighting races in Mississippi, Texas and Kansas among others where Democratic candidates could pull off upsets.

“I said this when I was here in Minnesota, ‘When you organize everywhere, you can win anywhere.’ That’s that motto has allowed us to expand the map into parts of this country that you know a decade ago people would have laughed if we were putting money into those places,” Martin said.

He also cautioned Democrats not to let up yet with more than a full day until polls close.

“I don’t want to be overly enthusiastic or overly optimistic. We've got work to do, and there's still 30 plus hours left to do this work. If we do it, it could be a historic night for the Democratic Party,” Martin said.

Democratic candidates and Republicans were set to wrap up the last day of their respective state bus tours on Monday evening.

The state’s top election administrator said Monday that in addition to election monitors sent by the U.S. Department of Justice, who will be at some polling places in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, the Democrat-led U.S. House Minority caucus is sending one election observer to Hennepin County and one to Olmsted County.

Secretary of State Steve Simon said the Republican-led U.S. House Majority caucus has so far declined to send observers.

“Historically, they have sent their observers to competitive districts,” said Paul Linnell, elections director for the Secretary of State’s Office. “It is something that’s outlined in the Constitution that allows them to send them to congressional districts and they’ve chosen to send two in this case.”

Olmsted County, where Rochester is, is part of U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad’s district, which is among the most competitive congressional races in the country. Like the Justice Department’s election monitors, Congress sending election observers to polling places is not a new development.

The Justice Department sent election monitors to Hennepin and Ramsey county polling places during the August primary. The Secretary of State’s office partnered with the Attorney General’s office to “monitor the monitors” and plan to do so again.

“[Election monitors] are literally Justice Department lawyers or people who work with the Justice Department lawyers who come in plain clothes,” Simon said. “They don’t have badges, they don’t have guns.”

After casting her ballot, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michele Tafoya told reporters that she feels good that she’s done everything she can to get her supporters to the polls.

“We've traveled everywhere. We've spoken to so many people. We're going to continue to speak today,” Tafoya said.

Tafoya is running against DFL Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan. Also on the ballot are Libertarian candidate Rebecca Whiting and independent candidate Marisa Simonetti.

Tafoya urged Minnesotans to get to the polls, despite the rainy conditions. “We don't want the weather to dampen anyone's spirits about voting.”

Lisa Demuth, the Republican candidate for Minnesota governor, voted Monday morning at the Stearns County Service Center in Waite Park, just west of St. Cloud. She cast an early ballot with her husband, Nick.

Demuth said she's feeling good about her campaign, despite polls that show her trailing Democrat Amy Klobuchar.

“Closing message for voters is if you want change, I am the best person to bring that change that is needed here in our state,” Demuth said. “That means respecting the people of Minnesota by protecting us from further fraud and making our state affordable."

Demuth deflected questions about President Donald Trump's impact on Republican candidates.

Klobuchar also cast an early ballot.

Early voting for this year’s midterm is at a record high in Minnesota. The secretary of state reported more than 886,000 ballots cast through Sunday; it could reach 1 million by the end of Monday.

Secretary of State Steve Simon is expected to speak on the numbers later Monday.