Democrats Shelley Buck, Meg Luger-Nikolai emerge from primaries in Woodbury, St. Paul
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Democrats Shelley Buck and Meg Luger-Nikolai moved ahead in a pair of races for open Minnesota House seats on Tuesday in districts their party will be favored to win.
The primary victories set the ballot for a pair of January special elections. In the district covering parts of Woodbury and Maplewood, it’s an uncontested election next month. In St. Paul, labor lawyer Luger-Nikolai faces small business owner and Republican Dan Walsh.
Buck, a nonprofit leader and longtime Prairie Island Tribal Council leader, handily defeated fellow Democrats David Azcona and Juli Servatius. The suburban seat came open after Sen. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger swapped chambers from the House after winning a special election last month.
Meanwhile, in St. Paul voters had a six-candidate race on the DFL side. Luger-Nikolai prevailed in a tighter race over Beth Fraser, John Zwier, Matt Hill, Dan McGrath and Lois Quam.
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Luger-Nikolai is a labor lawyer for Education Minnesota — the statewide teachers union — and had the DFL endorsement. Walsh also advances after running unopposed in the GOP primary. The winner will succeed St. Paul Mayor-elect Kaohly Her, who stepped down from the House seat after securing the city hall position.
Special elections for both seats will take place on Jan. 27. They will bring the Minnesota House back to its full complement ahead of the 2026 legislative session.
DFLers would need to win both to return the House to a 67-67 tie. If Republicans pulled off an upset, they would gain an outright House majority.
The state has seen plenty of special elections in 2025 due to lawmaker deaths, convictions, retirements and other issues.
Eight seats in Minnesota's Legislature have been open for parts of 2025.
Every House and Senate seat is on next November’s ballot.
