Minnesota 2026 elections

Political landscape in Minnesota

Overview

Minnesota lies in the Upper Midwest. Manitoba and Ontario in Canada border it on the north and east, Wisconsin on the east, Iowa on the south and the two Dakotas on the west, and it shares a water boundary with Michigan in Lake Superior. The state ranks 12th in area and 22nd in population, with roughly 5.8 million people. Nicknamed the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Minnesota has more than 14,000 sizable bodies of fresh water, and about a third of its land is forest. More than 60 percent of Minnesotans reside in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul region, called the Twin Cities, where Minneapolis is the largest city; Duluth, Rochester, St. Cloud and Mankato anchor smaller metropolitan areas. French explorers were the first Europeans in the region, much of which became US territory through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, and Minnesota became the 32nd state in 1858. Timber, farming and railroads drove early growth, and the economy has since shifted toward services, finance and health care.

Officeholders

As of October 2026, the governor of Minnesota is Tim Walz (Democratic–Farmer–Labor), and the state's US senators are Amy Klobuchar (Democratic–Farmer–Labor) and Tina Smith (Democratic–Farmer–Labor).

2026 elections

On November 3, 2026, voters in Minnesota will decide the race for a US Senate seat, the race for governor, contests in 8 US House districts and 1 ballot measure. The measure is a proposed amendment to the state constitution.