Rep. Tim Walz (D) defeated Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson (R), Josh Welter (L), and Chris Wright (Grassroots) in the general election on November 6, 2018, for governor of Minnesota.

Incumbent Mark Dayton (D) did not file for election to a third term in 2018, leaving the seat open. Dayton was last elected in 2014, defeating Johnson by a margin of 6 percentage points. Of the ten preceding gubernatorial elections, a Republican candidate won five, a Democratic candidate won four—including Dayton's victories in 2010 and 2014—and an independent candidate won one.

The last time a Minnesota gubernatorial election was won by a candidate of the outgoing governor's political party was in 1946 when Luther Youngdahl (R) was elected to succeed Edward John Thye (R). In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) carried the state by a margin of 1.5 percentage points.

Walz's victory preserved the state's divided government. At the time of the election, Minnesota had been under divided government since Democrats lost their majority in the state house in 2015. The winner of this election stood to influence the state's redistricting process following the 2020 census. Under Minnesota state law, the governor may veto congressional and state legislative district maps proposed by the state legislature.

Minnesota was one of 36 states that held an election for governor in 2018. Democrats gained seven previously Republican-held seats, and Republicans gained one previously independent-held seat. Heading into the 2018 elections, there were 16 Democratic governors, 33 Republican governors, and one independent governor. In 2018, 26 of the 33 states with a Republican governor held a gubernatorial election, while nine out of the 16 states with a Democratic governor held a gubernatorial election. Seventeen of the 36 seats up for election were open seats (four Democratic, 12 Republican, and one independent), meaning that the sitting governor was not seeking re-election.

Polls

Minnesota Governor, 2018

Minnesota Governor, 2018

Race ratings

The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato's Crystal Ball. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage. Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: Minnesota gubernatorial election, 2018

Election history

2014

In the 2014 gubernatorial election, incumbent Mark Dayton (D) defeated Jeff Johnson (R).

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, 2014

Party	Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mark Dayton/Tina Smith Incumbent	50.1%	989,113
	Republican	Jeff Johnson/Bill Kuisle	44.5%	879,257
	Independence	Hannah Nicollet/Tim Gieseke	2.9%	56,900
	Grassroots Party	Chris Wright/David Daniels	1.6%	31,259
	Libertarian	Chris Holbrook/Chris Dock	0.9%	18,082
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.1%	1,134
Total Votes			1,975,745
Election results via Minnesota Secretary of State

2010

In the 2010 gubernatorial election, Mark Dayton (D) defeated Tom Emmer (R).

Governor/Lt. Governor of Minnesota, 2010

Party	Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mark Dayton/Yvonne Prettner Solon	43.6%	919,232
	Republican	Tom Emmer/Annette Meeks	43.2%	910,462
	Independence	Tom Horner/James A. Mulder	11.9%	251,487
	Grassroots Party	Chris Wright/Edwin H. Engelmann	0.4%	7,516
	Green	Farheen Hakeem/Dan Dittmann	0.3%	6,188
	Ecology Democracy Party	Ken Pentel/Erin Wallace	0.3%	6,180
	The Resource Party	Linda S. Eno/Howard B. Hanson	0.2%	4,092
	Write-In	Various	0.1%	1,864
Total Votes			2,107,021
Election results via Minnesota Secretary of State

Demographics

Demographic data for Minnesota

As of July 2016, Minnesota's three largest cities were Minneapolis (pop. est. 422,000), St. Paul (pop. est. 307,000), and Rochester (pop. est. 116,000).