Minnesota Senate

2020 Election Update

Heading into the 2020 election, Republicans controlled the Minnesota Senate 35 to 32. Democrats flipped three seats (SDs 14, 44, and 56), and lost two seats (SDs 27 and 58) for a net gain of one seat. Republicans now control the chamber 34 to 33.

In November 2020, two Democrats left the caucus to form an independent caucus. Republicans now control the chamber 34 to 31 to 2.

The below table shows 2020 election results for the Minnesota Senate. The LDI score is for the 2020 cycle. EveryDistrict will release new scores and district rankings after the redistricting process.

2018 Election Update

In November 2018, Republicans controlled the Minnesota State Senate 34-33. The Minnesota State Senate was not on the ballot in 2018; all seats will be on the ballot in 2020.

In February 2019, Republicans flipped a formerly Democratic-held seat (SD 11). Republicans now control the chamber 35-32.

Understanding the Map

EveryDistrict’s Legislative District Index (LDI) is the gold standard of state legislative competitiveness. Our LDI ranks state legislative districts on a scale from 100 to -100, using statewide elections data. Districts with a score of 100 would vote for statewide Democratic candidates by an average of 100 points (with the Democratic candidate receiving 100% of the vote); districts with a score of -100 would vote for statewide Republican candidates by an average of 100 points (with the Republican candidate receiving 100% of the vote). For a more realistic example, a district with a score of 10 would vote for statewide Democratic candidates by an average of 10 points (meaning we would expect the Democratic state legislative candidate to win with 55% of the vote compared to the Republican winning 45% of the vote).

After the 2018 election, EveryDistrict reviewed and enhanced our LDI system, improving the accuracy of the metric with new methodologies and the most recent electoral data.

For more information about EveryDistrict’s LDI, please click here.