Minnesota, Secretary of state

Minnesota held an election for secretary of state on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was June 5, 2018.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the 2018 election, the sitting secretary of state was Steve Simon (D), who was first elected in 2014.
At the time of the 2018 election, Minnesota was under divided government. It first gained this status in 2015, when Republicans gained a majority in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Minnesota was a Democratic triplex in 2018.
Minnesota had been won by the Democratic candidate in each of the five presidential elections leading up to the 2018 election. The widest margin of victory was Barack Obama's ten percent margin in 2008 while the narrowest was Hillary Clinton's two percent margin in 2016.

State election history

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.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

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%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

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%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

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%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

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

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Minnesota Party Control: 1992-2020
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	20
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	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	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	D

Demographics

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).