Minnesota voters elected one Democrat and one Republican to a pair of vacant seats in the State Senate on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, leaving in place a one-seat Democratic majority in that chamber.
The special elections came during a year of high turnover in the Minnesota Legislature that has shifted the power balance in both of the closely divided chambers. Those changes might not be finished, with a Democratic senator running on Tuesday for mayor of Minneapolis and a Democratic representative running for mayor of St. Paul. Those races had not yet been called.
The legislative elections on Tuesday were prompted by the resignation of former Senator Nicole Mitchell, a Democrat from suburban St. Paul who left her post after being convicted of burglary, and the death of Senator Bruce Anderson, a Republican from the central part of the state.
A Democrat, State Representative Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger, won in Ms. Mitchell’s former district, which leans Democratic. A Republican, Michael Holmstrom Jr., won in Mr. Anderson’s old district, which is solidly Republican.
Because Ms. Hemmingsen-Jaeger is now serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives, her victory in the Senate race will shift the balance of power in the House. When she resigns from the House to be sworn into the Senate, Republicans will take a one-seat House majority, at least until another special election is held.
Several legislative seats in Minnesota have been contested in special elections this year after the resignations and deaths of incumbent lawmakers, including State Representative Melissa Hortman, a Democrat who was fatally shot in June in what the authorities called an act of political violence.
The partisan balance in one or both chambers could shift further if State Senator Omar Fateh, a Democrat, is elected mayor of Minneapolis or State Representative Kaohly Her, a Democrat, is elected mayor of St. Paul. Those cities use ranked-choice voting, and the outcomes of those races remained unclear on Tuesday night.
Mitch Smith is a Chicago-based national correspondent for The Times, covering the Midwest and Great Plains.
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