Live updates and results from primary election night

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

An all-woman lineup will lead party tickets in November, with DFL and Republican voters opting for female candidates in the open governor’s and U.S. Senate races.

Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Lisa Republican Demuth will face off in the governor's race. Barring something unforeseen, the winner would be the state's first female chief executive. Minnesota is among 19 states to never elect a woman to that post.

And it's Democrat Peggy Flanagan versus Republican Michele Tafoya for U.S. Senate. The winner will replace retiring Sen. Tina Smith.

The four nominees defeated primary challengers Tuesday to advance to November’s ballot. The primary saw the largest turnout in modern history, topping 1 million votes overall. 

The glass-breaking nature of this year’s campaign wasn’t lost on the victors.

Klobuchar told her supporters at a Minnetonka brewery that she’s a tested leader who concentrates on results. Yet she reminded the crowd of her accomplishment of being “the first woman elected to the United States Senate from the state of Minnesota.”

Republican Lisa Demuth highlighted her own “first” at a campaign event on a St. Paul restaurant patio.

“When I was elected as minority leader of my caucus, being the first woman as a Republican to ever hold top office, and then the first Republican speaker as a female and a person of color – that is an honor,” she said. “But I look at Minnesota finally getting to have their first female governor. It's time.”

Fresh off wins, the two quickly reset focus on the November election – and on distinguishing themselves from their fall rival. Demuth described a possible Klobuchar governorship as more of the same in St. Paul.

“With Senator Klobuchar, she has been in Washington for over 20 years. She has been running for office and in office for 30 years,” Demuth said. “She would be no different than the administration that has currently led our state into the dysfunction that it is now.”

Klobuchar called out a group that spent millions to get Demuth over the top in the GOP primary, which has a Wisconsin manufacturing mogul as the main donor.

"And who does this guy want? He wants her in the governor's office,” Klobuchar said. “And while she may be this Wisconsin billionaire's choice, I want to be Minnesota's choice for governor."

Both Klobuchar and Demuth are steeped in the issues. So their contest could be one of the most policy-focused campaigns in recent history. 

The Senate race will gain national focus with the two prominent candidates with distinctly different backgrounds and records.

Flanagan, who served as lieutenant governor under Gov. Tim Walz for two terms, won her party’s nomination after being severely outspent by U.S. Rep. Angie Craig. 

At First Avenue, the landmark music venue in Minneapolis, Flanagan told supporters her campaign had succeeded despite a big fundraising gap.

“I have been telling you that this campaign was about the many versus the money. Well, guess what? The many just won,” Flanagan said to roars of approval. “Make no mistake about it. This didn't happen because of me. This happened because of you. This happened because you said Minnesota is not for sale.”

With the at times bitter primary out of the way, Flanagan said the focus would now be on taking on Tafoya. She was quick to link her to the man at the top of her party.

“Donald Trump has cost our state far too much already, and we are not about to give Donald Trump another loyal soldier like Michele Tafoya to take his orders and do his bidding.” 

Tafoya, the former professional sport broadcaster, said Minnesota was ready for a political outsider.

“We traveled the state, and we said the same thing to everybody: that we love this state, and it's going in the wrong direction,” she said “And so we cannot continue to reelect the same career politicians that brought us here.”

Tafoya quickly turned to fraud — an issue she said would be central to voters. And one on which she said Flanagan was ineffective as the second in command in Minnesota.

“We are not going to reward this kind of egregious failure by giving these people a promotion,” Tafoya said.

She cruised to victory over a field that included former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze, who had the GOP convention endorsement, and Royce White, an ex-basketball player who was the Republican nominee for Senate two years ago. 

Schwarze didn’t commit to supporting Tafoya after his loss.

“I do not think I will be involved in Republican Party politics if I don't win this,” Schwarze said, suggesting Tafoya was elevated by the Washington establishment rather than the party faithful.

In her concession speech, Craig said she would rally behind Flanagan. She said she was glad to see women succeeding across primary contests.

"It's a great damn day to see women running, even against each other," Craig said.

MPR reporters Clay Masters, Peter Cox, Cait Kelley, Ellie Roth and Catharine Richert contributed to this story.

Politics and Government News

NewsPartners

Homepage

Election 2026 

Dana Ferguson

Author

Voters are primed to elect the first woman as Minnesota governor and return a woman to a U.S. Senate seat that is open this fall.

Two women watch election results on a screen.

Kerem Yücel | MPR News

Two women speak to each other with their heads tilted down.

Erica Dischino for MPR News

A woman in white and a man in a white shirt and red tie applaud.

Tom Baker for MPR News

Michele Tafoya, candidate for U.S. Senate, arrives

Governor, Senate nominees give Minnesota voters a choice between accomplished women

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox