The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party held its one-seat majority in the Minnesota Senate after two Tuesday special elections for vacant seats did not shift the partisan balance of the chamber.

Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger (Courtesy of the candidate)

Unofficial election results late Tuesday showed state Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger, DFL-Woodbury, held a decisive lead over Republican challenger Dwight Dorau in the special election for Senate District 47, which includes the city of Woodbury and southern Maplewood.

As of 11 p.m. Hemmingsen-Jaeger had 62% of the vote to Dorau’s 38% with all precincts reporting.

The seat has been vacant since July, when former DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell resigned after her conviction on two felony burglary charges. Hemmingsen-Jaeger’s apparent win Tuesday night means the district remains in DFL hands.

“Congratulations to Amanda, on a decisive victory,” Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said in a statement. ”With a record of fighting to lower the cost of prescription drugs and capping the price of insulin, it’s clear that voters sided with the leader ready to deliver for their families. I look forward to working alongside her in this critical time.”

Meanwhile, Michael Holmstrom Jr. held a significant early lead over DFLer Louis McNutt in the special election for Senate District 29, which includes most of Wright County and parts of Meeker and Hennepin counties.

Holmstrom had 62% of the vote to McNutt’s 38% with all precincts reporting.

Holmstrom will fill the vacant seat of Sen. Bruce Anderson, R-Buffalo, who died unexpectedly in July at 75. Republicans were expected to hold on to Anderson’s former seat.

“Tonight’s results are a testament to our community’s shared values and desire for a stronger Minnesota,” Holmstrom said in a statement. “As your next State Senator, I will fight to protect your tax dollars against fraud, strengthen public safety, support parental rights in schools, and lower costs for you and your family.”

With neither seat changing party hands, the DFL will keep its one-seat majority in the Senate. When the winners are sworn into office, it will return to the margin that voters delivered in the 2024 election: 34 DFLers to 33 Republicans.

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.

Senate District 47 has favored Democrats by double-digit margins in recent elections, though it is not as historically Democratic as the center of the Twin Cities and was seen as the more competitive of the two races.

Hemmingsen-Jaeger focused her message on tackling rising health care and child care costs, and protecting the environment. She also said voters were worried about President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and cuts to federal spending.

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Dorau, meanwhile, hoped that voters would see what could be more than $1 billion in fraud in state government programs and significant spending growth under DFL leadership in recent years as reasons to vote for a Republican candidate.

Katie Demaris, a 39-year-old preschool teacher from Woodbury, said she voted for the DFL candidate because she’s concerned about cuts at the federal level and what greater Republican power in her home state could mean for public food assistance and education spending.

“I just almost feel like it’s protecting everything,” she said outside of a polling location at Woodbury Elementary School. “For the benefits, for our school districts, for the education, what we’re allowed to teach.”

Republican voters who spoke with the Pioneer Press said they were concerned about fraud in state government and growing taxes.

St. Paul voters appeared ready to hand the city council the authority to craft new civil fines — or non-criminal penalties known as administrative citations — to crack down on scofflaws who violate city ordinances.

A question on Tuesday’s citywide ballot sought voter approval to amend the city charter, or municipal constitution, to allow the council the power to create new fine ladders around ordinance violations. Late Tuesday returns showed “yes” votes rolling in with a solid lead, 68% to 32%, with 78 of 86 precincts reporting.

“I think people, once they learned about administrative citations, it was almost unanimous that they understood it was a common-sense tool,” said Matt Privratsky, chair of the “Vote Yes for a Fairer St. Paul” campaign, as results came in.

“There was almost no one I spoke to who had a question about whether it was the right choice for the city,” he added, noting most other large cities already implement them. “Based on the conversations I had, it’s not surprising.”

Pointing to run-ins with errant landlords, employers who fail to pay out sick leave and other scofflaws, the council had attempted to amend the charter in both 2018 and 2021 but was rebuffed both times by the charter commission, whose members expressed concern at the time about city overreach.

Backed by St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and all seven council members, department leaders from Public Works and the Department of Safety and Inspections made their own case to the charter commission last year, focusing on some 15 key areas where enforcement was lacking and largely limited to warning letters or, at the opposite extreme, criminal charges.

Those areas ranged from animal control violations to landlords who fail to fix broken toilets or hike rents despite the city’s 3% rent control cap. Department leaders also pointed to construction work completed without proper permits, potential violations of the city’s new wage theft ordinance, and illicit discharges into storm and sanitary sewers.

DSI officials said dozens of participants in the city’s diversionary ETHOS program have sought to have their criminal histories expunged in the last four years due to dog bite convictions alone. In one highlighted case, a family dog ran past a single mom attempting to get her kids out the door and bit a person in the hallway. She was issued a criminal citation, which raised the possibility of eviction.

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How did the St. Paul DFL, which is on hiatus, back two ballot questions?

The charter amendment ultimately received the support of the charter commission and city council, but former City Hall financial analyst Peter Butler gathered enough petition signatures to block it and force it onto the public ballot, under the premise that the public should have the right to review details.

A majority of the city’s single-family housing stock dates back to before 1930. Former City Council Member Jane Prince and other critics have expressed concern that the city will attempt to balance its budget through fines, and city inspectors could become too heavy-handed and issue citations for tall grass, chipped paint and other mundane code violations common to century-old properties and low-income neighborhoods.

White Bear Lake held a mayoral and city council election Tuesday night. Falcon Heights and St. Anthony also held city council elections.

Voters also cast ballots on funding referendums in the Mahtomedi, Mounds View, Roseville and North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale school districts.

St. Anthony-New Brighton, Mounds View, North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale and Roseville also held school board elections.

Here’s a roundup of results for municipal races in Ramsey County:

Falcon Heights

Georgiana May and Jim Mogen held the lead in the city council election for two at-large seats in Falcon Heights with one of two precincts reporting late Tuesday.

As of 10:15 p.m. May had 42% of the vote while Mogen had 40%. Jeremy Hallowanger had 13%. Eric Meyer dropped out of the race on Oct. 9.

Falcon Heights City Council has five members, including the mayor. Councilmembers and the mayor are elected to four-year terms.

St. Anthony

Candidates Nadia A. Elnagdy and Jan Jenson were the only two candidates on the ballot for two seats on the St. Anthony City Council.

White Bear Lake

Mary Nicklawske held the lead late Tuesday in the White Bear Lake mayor race.

With 3 of 6 precincts reporting, Nicklawske had 64% of the vote. Stephen Laliberte had 36%

Nicklawske and Laliberte advanced from a primary election in August.

The two competed to replace White Bear Lake Mayor Dan Louismet, who won office in 2021 and is not running for reelection.

Ellen Gurrola ran unopposed for a Ward 2 city council seat and Kevin L. Edberg ran unopposed for a Ward 4 seat.

St. Anthony-New Brighton school district

Voters in St. Anthony-New Brighton School District reelected Annie Bosmans, Laura Haas and Prachi Striker to the three open seats on the school board.

With 3 of 4 precincts reporting results on Daniel Turner held the lead in a special election for an open seat on the board with 55% of the vote to Michael Overman’s 45%.

Mounds View school district

The Mounds View school board has three at-large open seats. Candidates Shauna Bock, Shea Bruce, Tascha Just and Mark Sacay ran.

With 9 of 23 precincts reporting as of 10:15 p.m., Bock had 31%, Sacay had 30% and Just 29%. Bruce had 9% and write-in gathered 1%.

North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale school district

In the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale district, Sam Rosemark held a lead over Justin Middaugh for an open at-large seat on the school board.

With 21 of 29  precincts reporting as of 10:15 p.m., Rosemark had 62% to Middaugh’s 38%.

Roseville school district

Voters in the Roseville district were set to elect three at-large members to the school board.

With 8 of 19 precincts reporting at 10:15 p.m. Geida Cleveland had 30%, Mannix Clark had 29%, Karl Crump had 8% and Michelle Morse-Wendt had 31%. Write-in candidates had 1%.

Levy referendums

The Mounds View, Roseville and North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale district had funding ballot questions.

Mounds View voters approved their referendum with 64% support. Roseville voters approved their referendum with 68% support. And, North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale voters did not approve their referendum, with 56% voting no.

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Voters in the South Washington County Schools District on Tuesday voted to keep three incumbents on the board and also elected a candidate supported by the teachers’ union.

Incumbents Kathleen (Katie) Schwartz and Sharon H. Van Leer were re-elected to the school board with 15.2 percent and 14.5 percent of the vote, respectively. School board member Louise Hinz, who was appointed to the board in March, was elected to the board with 14.5 percent; Elizabeth Bockman Eckberg, who was endorsed by United Teachers for South Washington County, received 15.4 percent of the vote.

Three candidates endorsed by Parents United — Bryn Forstner, Juan Huerta and Lori Pecchia Michalski — were not elected. Neither were Travis Dahle nor Chad Borseth.

Voters continued to arrive at the polling location in Woodbury City Hall after dark on Tuesday, with many drawn by the school board race.

May Chang, 60, of Woodbury, said she turned out to support candidates opposed to what she described as “liberal ideas of changing gender.” “Just leave our children alone and let them study, learn academics, not intoxicate them with ideologies,” said Chang, who had three children attend schools in Woodbury.

William Hrbacek, 27, of Woodbury, said he turned out in part to stick up for LGBTQ friends by backing candidates supportive of “socially inclusive initiatives.”

“I’d like for them to be in an environment where they’re not harassed or discriminated against,” Hrbacek said, adding that teachers union endorsements guided his votes in the race.

The South Washington County school district covers all or parts of Cottage Grove, Newport, St. Paul Park, Woodbury, Afton, Denmark and Grey Cloud Island Townships.

Mahtomedi School District

Voters in the Mahtomedi district approved both referendum questions on the ballot.

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The first question, which asked taxpayers to increase the school district’s existing operating levy from $1,570 to $2,145 per student, passed with 64 percent of the vote. The additional $575 per pupil, which will start next year, will help maintain class sizes, sustain academic programming and strengthen financial stability, according to Superintendent Barbara Duffrin.

The second question, which asked for $28 million to fund a number of improvements, passed with 59 percent of voters supporting it. Among the improvements: a new front entrance at Mahtomedi Middle School; choir and band classroom improvements, new mechanicals, a weight-room addition and safety and security improvements at Mahtomedi High School, and new turf and lights at Athletic Field 1.

“We are incredibly grateful to our community for investing in the future of Mahtomedi students,” Duffrin shared in a message to voters on Tuesday night. “Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote, ask questions, and engage in the conversations. … We are united in our commitment to ensuring that students receive an excellent education in safe, innovative schools. Thank you for your trust, your partnership, and your shared belief in what’s possible when we put students first.”

Passage of the second ballot question was contingent upon passage of the first.

The passage of both means property taxes on a house worth $500,000, the average price of a house in the district, will rise about $382 a year, district officials said.