Of the 134 seats that were up for grabs in the Minnesota House, 10 were won by candidates who received less than 52 percent of the vote. Of those, 8 were Republicans, while 2 were Democrats.

Republicans who just got by:

  • Debra Kiel, 1B
  • Carolyn McElfatrick, 3B
  • King Banaian, 15B
  • Glenn Gruenhagen, 25A
  • Kelby Woodard, 25B
  • Rich Murray, 27A
  • Branden Petersen, 49B
  • Kathy Lohmer, 56A

And now for the DFL side:

  • Lyle Koenen, 20B
  • Patty Fritz, 26B

Third party votes

In three races, the third parties and write-ins won more than the difference between the GOP and the DFL in vote totals. All three were won by Republicans.

  • In 15B, the difference was 0.09 percent; write-ins won 0.25 percent of the vote.
  • In 49B, the difference was 2.86 percent; the Constitution Party candidate and write-ins won 2.93 percent.
  • In 56A, the difference was 4.92; the Independence Party got 5.52 percent.

Blowouts

Finally, what about blowout races, which I define as those in which one candidate gets 60 percent or more of the vote? Republicans won 37 of those races; Democrats won 33.

See also the official results page.