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Former U.S. Treasury official Jim Hagedorn (R) defeated former Obama administration official Dan Feehan (D) in the general election for Minnesota's 1st Congressional District on November 6, 2018.
Incumbent Rep. Tim Walz (D), who was first elected in 2006, did not seek re-election, leaving the seat open.
All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were up for election in 2018. The Democratic Party gained a net total of 40 seats, winning control of the chamber. This race was identified as a 2018 battleground that might have affected partisan control of the U.S. House in the 116th Congress. Heading into the election, the Republican Party was in the majority holding 235 seats to Democrats' 193 seats, with seven vacant seats. Democrats needed to win 23 GOP-held seats in 2018 to win control of the House. From 1918 to 2016, the president’s party lost an average of 29 seats in midterm elections.
After backing Barack Obama (D) in the 2012 presidential election by 2 percentage points, this district swung red for Donald Trump (R) in 2016, giving him a 15-point margin of victory. Both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee identified this district as a key race in 2018.
Hagedorn was the Republican nominee for this seat twice before. He was defeated by Walz both times, losing by six percentage points in 2014 and less than one percentage point in 2016.
Minnesota's 1st Congressional District extends across southern Minnesota from the border with South Dakota to the border with Wisconsin. It includes Blue Earth, Brown, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Jackson, Le Sueur, Martin, Mower, Nicollet, Nobles, Olmsted, Rock, Steele, Waseca, Watonwan, and Winona counties. Areas of Cottonwood and Rice counties also lie within the district.
Minnesota's 1st Congressional District election, 2018
| Poll | Poll sponsor |  Feehan |
 Hagedorn | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA October 16-20, 2018 | N/A | 47% | 45% | 8% | +/-4.4 | 586 |
| Harper Polling August 23-26, 2018 | Hagedorn | 33% | 47% | 20% | +/-4.9 | 400 |
| AVERAGES | 40% | 46% | 14% | +/-4.65 | 493 |
The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Feehan | Democratic Party | $4,177,225 | $4,173,703 | $3,521 | As of December 31, 2018 |
| Jim Hagedorn | Republican Party | $1,613,541 | $1,612,674 | $1,092 | As of December 31, 2018 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018.
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Minnesota from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Minnesota Secretary of State.
This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Minnesota every year from 2000 to 2016.
Election results (President of the United States), Minnesota 2000-2016
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Hillary Clinton |
46.4% | Donald Trump |
44.9% | 1.5% |
| 2012 | Barack Obama |
52.7% | Mitt Romney |
45.0% | 7.7% |
| 2008 | Barack Obama |
54.1% | John McCain |
43.8% | 10.3% |
| 2004 | John Kerry |
51.1% | George W. Bush |
47.6% | 3.5% |
| 2000 | Al Gore |
47.9% | George W. Bush |
45.5% | 2.4% |
This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Minnesota from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.
Election results (U.S. Senator), Minnesota 2000-2016
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Al Franken |
53.2% | Mike McFadden |
42.9% | 10.3% |
| 2012 | Amy Klobuchar |
65.2% | Kurt Bills |
30.5% | 34.7% |
| 2008 | Al Franken |
41.99% | Norm Coleman |
41.98% | 0.01% |
| 2006 | Amy Klobuchar |
58.1% | Mark Kennedy |
37.9% | 20.2% |
| 2002 | Norm Coleman |
49.5% | Walter Mondale |
47.3% | 2.2% |
| 2000 | Mark Dayton |
48.8% | Rod Grams |
43.3% | 5.5% |
This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Minnesota.
Election results (Governor), Minnesota 2000-2016
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Mark Dayton |
50.1% | Jeff Johnson |
44.5% | 5.6% |
| 2010 | Mark Dayton |
43.6% | Tom Emmer |
43.2% | 0.4% |
| 2006 | Tim Pawlenty |
46.7% | Mike Hatch |
45.7% | 1.0% |
| 2002 | Tim Pawlenty |
44.4% | Roger Moe |
36.5% | 7.9% |
This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Minnesota in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.
Congressional delegation, Minnesota 2000-2016
| Year | Republicans | Republicans (%) | Democrats | Democrats (%) | Balance of power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 |
37.5% | 5 |
62.5% | D+2 |
| 2014 | 3 |
37.5% | 5 |
62.5% | D+2 |
| 2012 | 3 |
37.5% | 5 |
62.5% | D+2 |
| 2010 | 4 |
50.0% | 4 |
50.0% | Even |
| 2008 | 3 |
37.5% | 5 |
62.5% | D+2 |
| 2006 | 3 |
37.5% | 5 |
62.5% | D+2 |
| 2004 | 4 |
50.0% | 4 |
50.0% | Even |
| 2002 | 4 |
50.0% | 4 |
50.0% | Even |
| 2000 | 3 |
37.5% | 5 |
62.5% | D+2 |
A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.
Minnesota Party Control: 1992-2019
Two years of Democratic trifectas • No Republican trifectas
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | I | I | I | I | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
| Senate | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | D | D | R | R | R | R | D |
Demographic data for Minnesota
| Minnesota | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Total population: | 5,482,435 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 79,627 | 3,531,905 |
| Gender | ||
| Female: | 50.3% | 50.8% |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 84.8% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 5.5% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 4.4% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 1% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.7% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 5% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 92.4% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 33.7% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $61,492 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 12.2% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in 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).
