Democrat Steve Simon will try for fourth term as Minnesota secretary of state
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Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon will try next year for a fourth term in charge of an office that oversees elections and business registrations.
The DFLer declared his 2026 intentions Tuesday. He told MPR News in an interview that threats and challenges to elections are too great for him to step away.
“I love being in the democracy business. And despite all the challenges — and I would say even threats — this is a labor of love,” Simon said. “It's important work. It's central and personal to me.”
Simon said he’s concerned about the pressure coming from outside Minnesota when it comes to elections, which he calls “power grabs.” He cited demands by President Donald Trump’s administration that states turn over voter records containing private data and suggestions that same-day voter registration be disallowed. Simon is currently a defendant in a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Simon said his office is actively planning for potential election disturbances in 2026, including scenarios in which military personnel or immigration agents are sent to polling places.
“It's not a prediction on my part, but it's sort of like a weather event. We have to plan for that,” Simon said. “It is certainly on the menu. It is something that is possible.”
Simon was first elected in 2014 and has twice been reelected. He had been considering seeking other offices but opted against that, including a run for an open U.S. Senate seat. He was among those mentioned as candidates if Gov. Tim Walz didn’t run for reelection. Simon said his current role was a better fit.
“This office is always front and center for me,” Simon said. “I mean, this is my center of gravity.”
Republican Tad Jude, a former lawmaker and judge, is the only other announced candidate for secretary of state.
Jude has criticized Simon for refusing to comply with the Justice Department request for access to voter data related to registration and continued eligibility. Jude said Minnesota should enact a photo ID requirement for voting, conduct more-frequent audits of voter rolls and cooperate more with federal agencies.
Simon said he’s proud of laws he helped implement during his current term to pre-register 16- and 17-year-olds and to restore voting rights to people upon leaving jails or prisons.
He also found himself at the center of a power struggle in the knotted-up Minnesota House last year, when Democrats boycotted to deprive Republicans of a quorum. Simon presided over weeks of the session standstill — attracting lawsuits from the GOP — until a power-sharing arrangement between the parties was struck.
The last time Simon was on the ballot in 2022, he was the state’s top vote getter for partisan office. He attracted 1,345,685 votes and defeated Republican nominee Kim Crockett by nearly 10 percentage points.
Simon’s attempt at a new term coincides with third-term bids by other Democrats in top offices — Walz as governor and Keith Ellison as attorney general.
A fourth term as secretary of state wouldn’t be as momentous, however, given that Democrat Joan Growe served six terms ending in 1999 and Republican Mike Holm held the post for a record 32 years until his death in 1952.
