The 2016 Minnesota House of Representatives election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 8, 2016, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the 90th Minnesota Legislature. A primary election was held in several districts on August 9, 2016. The election coincided with the election of the other house of the Legislature, the Senate.

The Republican Party of Minnesota won a majority of seats, remaining the majority party, followed by the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL). The new Legislature convened on January 3, 2017.

Background The last election resulted in the Republican Party of Minnesota winning a majority of seats, after losing a majority to the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) only two years earlier in the previous election. This resulted in split control of the Legislature for the first time since 2006, ending eight years of unified control by either the DFL or the Republicans as well as ending two years of all-DFL control of the Legislature and governorship.

Electoral system The 134 members of the House of Representatives were elected from single-member districts via first-past-the-post voting for two-year terms. Contested nominations of the DFL and Republican parties for each district were determined by an open primary election. Minor party and independent candidates were nominated by petition. Write-in candidates must have filed a request with the secretary of state's office for votes for them to have been counted.

Retiring members

Republican Mark Anderson, 9A Dave Hancock, 2A Tim Kelly, 21A Tara Mack, 57A Denny McNamara, 54B Tim Sanders, 37B

DFL Joe Atkins, 52B Jason Isaacson, 42B Carolyn Laine, 41B Carly Melin, 6A Jerry Newton, 37A Kim Norton, 25B Dan Schoen, 54A Yvonne Selcer, 48A Erik Simonson, 7B

Predictions SourceRankingAs of Governing | October 12, 2016

Competitive districts According to MinnPost, the Star Tribune, the Pioneer Press, and MPR News, a total of 25 districts were competitive. MinnPost considered 17 districts to be competitive—12 of which were held by the Republicans and five by the DFL, the Star Tribune 22—16 of which were held by the Republicans and six by the DFL, the Pioneer Press eight—seven of which were held by the Republicans and one by the DFL, and MPR News 14—11 of which were held by the Republicans and three by the DFL.

District Incumbent Party Firstelected 2014result MinnPost Star Tribune Pioneer Press MPR NewsResult 2A Dave Hancock‡ Republican 2010, 2014† 52.36% Hold 4B Paul Marquart DFL 2000 65.84% Hold 5B Tom Anzelc DFL 2006 56.54% Republican gain 10B Dale Lueck Republican 2014 51.86% Hold 11B Jason Rarick Republican 2014 53.67% Hold 12A Jeff Backer Republican 2014 51.85% Hold 14A Tama Theis Republican 2013* 54.90% Hold 14B Jim Knoblach Republican 1994, 2014† 50.15% Hold 17A Tim Miller Republican 2014 55.37% Hold 17B Dave Baker Republican 2014 50.66% Hold 21A Tim Kelly‡ Republican 2008 62.17% Hold 24B Brian Daniels Republican 2014 50.85% Hold 25B Kim Norton‡ DFL 2006 94.91%§ Hold 28B Greg Davids Republican 1991*, 2008† 55.88% Hold 37B Tim Sanders‡ Republican 2008 55.40% Hold 42A Barb Yarusso DFL 2012 50.55% Republican gain 44A Sarah Anderson Republican200655.51% Hold 48A Yvonne Selcer‡ DFL 2012 50.04% Hold 49A Ron Erhardt DFL 1990, 2012† 51.38% Republican gain 50B Chad Anderson Republican 2016* 65.60% DFL gain 54B Denny McNamara‡ Republican 2002 60.54% Hold 56A Drew Christensen Republican2014 55.81% Hold 56B Roz Peterson Republican 2014 53.99% Hold 57A Tara Mack‡ Republican 2008 58.44% DFL gain 57B Anna Wills Republican2012 58.40% Hold

Primary elections results District Party Candidates Votes % 1B Republican Deb Kiel 1,380 100.00 DFL Mike Moore 1,080 71.90 Erwin Rud 422 28.10 6A Republican Rob Farnsworth 856 100.00 DFL Julie Sandstede 1,676 35.61 Tom Whiteside 1,468 31.19 Ben DeNucci 1,303 27.69 Mike Thompson 259 5.50 7B Republican Cody Barringer 494 100.00 DFL Liz Olson 1,607 89.03 Bryan Jensen 198 10.97 13A Republican Jeff Howe 862 100.00 DFL Anne Buckvold 494 74.96 Jane Leitzman 165 25.04 15A Republican Sondra Erickson 1,238 74.31 Tom Heinks 428 25.69 DFL Kent Lestrud 579 100.00 31A Republican Kurt Daudt 1,722 72.11 Alan Duff 666 27.89 DFL Sarah Udvig 444 100.00 31B Republican Cal Bahr 1,260 56.96 Tom Hackbarth 952 43.04 DFL Susan Larson 487 100.00 40B Republican Mali Marvin 284 100.00 DFL Debra Hilstrom 1,083 85.95 Jim Richards 177 14.05 48A Republican Mary Shapiro 1,729 80.61 Kris Newcomer 416 19.39 DFL Laurie Pryor 1,271 100.00 50B Republican Chad Anderson 1,179 100.00 DFL Andrew Carlson 2,125 88.58 Christopher Seymore 274 11.42 56A Republican Drew Christensen 970 100.00 DFL Jared Christiansen 307 60.20 Dan Kimmel 203 39.80 59A Republican Jessica Newville 155 100.00 DFL Fue Lee 1,584 55.52 Joe Mullery 1,269 44.48 60B Republican Abdimalik Askar 56 100.00 DFL Ilhan Omar 2,404 40.97 Mohamud Noor 1,738 29.62 Phyllis Kahn 1,726 29.41 65A Republican Monique Giordana 126 100.00 DFL Rena Moran 2,310 79.06 Rashad Turner 612 20.94

Opinion polling Polling firm Polling period Samplesize Margin oferror Republican DFL UndecidedPublic Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling July 30 – August 2, 2015 1,015 ±3.1 40% 46% 15%

Results

+ Summary of the November 8, 2016, Minnesota House of Representatives election resultsPartyCandidatesVotesSeats%∆∆%Republican Party of Minnesota1301,400,58750.340.3376356.72Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party1311,366,37549.110.1957442.54Libertarian Party of Minnesota22,4670.090.0900.00Green Party of Minnesota19190.030.0700.00Independent15,4230.190.1900.00Write-inN/A6,7340.240.1000.00Results invalidated2N/AN/AN/A110.75Total2,782,505100.00±0.00134±0100.00Invalid/blank votes185,7766.262.46Turnout (out of 3,972,330 eligible voters)2,968,28174.7224.21

District results