Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday called special elections for St. Paul and Woodbury House seats left vacant after two state representatives were elected to new offices this month.
State Rep. Kaohly Her, DFL-St. Paul resigned from the House on Monday as she prepares to take on her new role as mayor of St. Paul. Her defeated two-term incumbent Melvin Carter in the Nov. 4 election.
Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger, DFL-Woodbury, is leaving House District 47A for Senate District 47 after winning a special election to the upper chamber earlier this month.
Special elections for Her’s District 64A and Hemmingsen-Jaeger’s former district are scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 27, three weeks ahead of the 2026 legislative session. Special primaries are scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 16, if multiple candidates file to run for one party’s nomination.
Last year’s election gave the state its most closely divided government ever: a House tied 67-67 between Republicans and DFLers and a Senate split 34-33 with the DFL holding the advantage.
The departure of two DFLers means Republicans are technically at a two-seat advantage, but the Legislature is not in session and bills require 68 votes to pass. DFLers also are favored to win the two vacant seats, which would mean the return of a tied House before lawmakers reconvene on Feb. 17.
District 64A, which Her had represented since 2018, includes the Union Park, Macalester-Groveland and Summit-University neighborhoods. It leans heavily Democratic.
Hemmingsen-Jaeger’s district includes the city of Woodbury and southern Maplewood. It had been without a senator since the July resignation of state Sen. Nicole Mitchell following her conviction on felony burglary charges.
House District 47A has strongly favored Democrats in recent years. Hemmingsen-Jaeger won the seat with more than 60% of the vote in 2022 and 2024.
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Hemmingsen-Jaeger is scheduled to be sworn into the Minnesota Senate, along with Republican Sen.-elect Michael Holmstrom, in a ceremony in Senate Chambers on Tuesday morning.
Minnesota has seen an unusually high number of special elections this year due to deaths, criminal cases and a candidate residency dispute.
So far, there have been six special elections in 2025. The last time there were that many was 1994, according to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.
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