2019 Minnesota Senate District 11 special election

A special election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on February 5, 2019, to elect a new senator for District 11 in the Minnesota Senate, caused by the resignation of Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Senator Tony Lourey effective on January 3, 2019, to be appointed as commissioner of human services in Governor Tim Walz's cabinet. A primary election was held on January 22, 2019, to nominate a DFL candidate. Jason Rarick, the Republican nominee, won the special election. Rarick's win caused a special election for the seat he held in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

2019 District 11 special election
February 5, 2019 (2019-02-05)
Minnesota Senate District 11
 
Nominee Jason Rarick Stu Lourey
Party Republican Democratic (DFL)
Popular vote 8,127 7,171
Percentage 52.02% 45.90%
Precinct Results

Rarick:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      90–100%
Lourey:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      90–100%

Senator before election

Tony Lourey
Democratic (DFL)

 Elected Senator

Jason Rarick
Republican

Background
Results by Precinct in 2016:

District 11 includes all of Carlton and Pine counties, the eastern half of Kanabec County, and a small part of southern St. Louis County in east-central Minnesota. Lourey first represented the area when it was District 8 after winning election in 2006, succeeding his mother, Becky Lourey, who did not seek re-election. In the last election in 2016, Lourey won with 55 percent of the vote.

Candidates

The candidate filing period was from January 4 to January 8, 2019.[1]

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party

The Senate District 11 DFL held a convention to endorse a candidate in Barnum on January 19, 2019.[2] Michelle Lee won the endorsement over Stu Lourey.[3] Lourey conceded the endorsement after Lee received just one vote less than the 60 percent of votes needed to win outright out of more than 150 delegates.[4] Lourey said after the convention he would continue to campaign for the DFL nomination in the primary election.[5]

Declared

Republican Party of Minnesota

District 11 Republican delegates held a convention to endorse a candidate in Hinckley on January 8, 2019. District 11B Representative Jason Rarick won the endorsement over deputy chair of the Eighth Congressional District Republicans Justin Krych. Mayor of Pine City Carl Pederson and Mathias Shir did not receive any votes. All candidates who were not endorsed agreed to withdraw their candidacies.[6]

Declared

Withdrawn
  • Justin Krych, deputy chair of the Eighth Congressional District Republicans; candidate for Minnesota Senate District 7 in 2002[2]
  • Carl Pederson, mayor of Pine City since 2015[2]
  • Matthias Shir, electrical engineer[2]

Primary election

Results
Results by county:
Party Candidate Votes %
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Stu Lourey 1,932 53.21
Michelle Lee 1,699 46.79
Subtotal 3,631 100.00
Republican Party of Minnesota Jason Rarick 689 100.00
Legal Marijuana Now Party John Birrenbach 69 100.00
Total 4,389 100.00
Invalid/blank votes 235 5.08
Turnout (out of 45,985 registered voters)[7] 4,624 10.06
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State[8]

Late ballots

Prior to the primary election, some voters voting by mail expressed concerns they would not receive their ballots or their ballots would not arrive in time to be counted. Carlton County's auditor said the short time frame of the special election and supply shortages made it difficult to promptly mail ballots.[9] Minnesota law requires, when a vacancy occurs while the Legislature is in session, that the governor issue a writ within five days of a vacancy occurring for a special election to be held within 35 days after the writ is issued.[10] If a primary election is required, it must be held within 14 days before the special election.[11]

Several hundred mail-in ballots did not arrive in time to be counted. In Carlton County, which had approximately 2,300 registered voters in mail-only precincts, 250 ballots arrived three days after the primary election and a further 12 three days later. In Pine County, which had 752 registered voters in mail-only precincts, a total of 43 ballots had arrived late as of three days after the primary election. Carlton County's auditor predicted as many as 400 ballots would arrive late.[12] Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said he would ask the Legislature to increase the time frame for holding future special elections given the number of late ballots.[13]

Results
Party Candidate Votes % +/−
Republican Party of Minnesota Jason Rarick 8,127 52.02 +6.66
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Stu Lourey 7,171 45.90 –8.60
Legal Marijuana Now Party John Birrenbach 298 1.91 +1.91
Write-ins 27 0.17 +0.03
Total 15,623 100.00 ±0.00
Invalid/blank votes 25 0.16 –4.23
Turnout (out of 44,876 registered voters)[14] 15,648 34.87 –46.86
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State[15]

See also

References
  1. "Senate District 11 Special Election". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  2. Malcomb, Jamey (January 8, 2019). "Candidates crowd Senate District 11 race". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  3. "Michelle Lee wins DFL endorsement in Senate District 11 race". Duluth News Tribune. January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  4. Krueger, Andrew (January 19, 2019). "Lee wins DFL endorsement in special election for state Senate seat". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  5. "Michelle Lee Takes DFL Endorsement in Senate District 11 Race". WDIO-TV. January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  6. Slater, Brady (January 9, 2019). "No primary for GOP as Rarick wins endorsement". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  7. "Statewide Reporting Statistics". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  8. "Results for State Senator District 11". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  9. Slater, Brady (January 18, 2019). "Rural ballot controversy surfaces in special election". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  10. "Minnesota Statutes 2018, section, 204D.19, subdivision 2". Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  11. "Minnesota Statutes 2018, section, 204D.21, subdivision 3". Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  12. Slater, Brady (January 28, 2019). "Election officials: Hundreds of votes went uncounted in Senate District 11 primary". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  13. Slater, Brady (January 29, 2019). "Minnesota's top election official: 'Voters may be disenfranchised'". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  14. "Statewide Reporting Statistics". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  15. "Results for State Senator District 11". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
Official campaign websites
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