Minnesota voters sought balance in 2024

Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Minnesota Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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While votes are still being tallied to determine control of the Minnesota House, Minnesotans have greater clarity early Wednesday on who will represent them in Washington, D.C., and at the State Capitol in St. Paul. The results suggest a state electorate seeking balance in its representation at both the federal and state levels.

Minnesota’s senior U.S. senator, Amy Klobuchar, unsurprisingly won a fourth term. The Democrat routed her thinly qualified Republican challenger Royce White, a former NBA player turned right-wing political provocateur, by nearly 16 percentage points.

One early takeaway from Tuesday’s results: Klobuchar has now won four Senate races decisively. With the defeat of longtime Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, Klobuchar will move up in her party’s seniority ranks. She’ll shoulder a greater national leadership role, which reflects well on Minnesota. Klobuchar will also have the clout to deliver for Minnesota voters.

That said, a credible Republican challenger is in order should she run again in 2030. The Republican nomination contests so far in her tenure have amounted to ideological purity tests. A competitive campaign would benefit both the winner and the state.

Minnesota’s U.S. House delegation also remains essentially unchanged, with four Republicans and four Democrats. Seven of the state’s House incumbents cruised to re-election. The metro’s west-suburban Third District was the only open seat. There, Kelly Morrison — a physician, legislator and Democrat — will replace retiring Democrat Dean Phillips.

The ideological split in Minnesota’s U.S. House delegation reminds us that this remains a closely divided nation. It also reveals an urban-rural divide in need of remedy, with Democrats generally prevailing in metro seats and Republicans carrying outstate districts.

As of Wednesday morning, control of the U.S. House remains unclear. But Minnesota’s representatives should push congressional leaders to prioritize initiatives in 2025 that can generate bipartisan support instead of deepening existing fissures. Common ground was forged earlier this year on immigration reform, for example, and is needed again.

Voters also strongly signaled their desire for balance with their legislative choices. The DFL appears to have maintained narrow control of the Minnesota Senate. Control of the Minnesota House was still up in the air as of early Wednesday morning, but Republicans had a strong night, putting at risk the DFL’s so-called trifecta.

Control of both legislative chambers and the governor’s office was the legacy of the 2022 election. In response, the DFL passed a historic and sweeping slate of policies. Among them: legalizing marijuana, passing paid family and medical leave, codifying abortion rights in state law, and enacting what is one of the nation’s most generous child tax credits.

Change, especially when it happens fast, can be difficult. That voters are poised to deliver control of one chamber back to Republicans suggests a discomfort with that rapid pace.

Divided government would slow things down, but it shouldn’t be an excuse to avoid heavy lifting. Legislators in 2025 face a daunting to-do list. Minnesota continues to face a labor shortage, an aging and diverse population, and a brewing property tax revolt as plummeting commercial real estate values shift more of this burden to individuals. Infrastructure needs also require urgent attention due the 2024 session’s failure to pass a bonding bill.

No matter the election outcome, Minnesotans deserve a reliably functional government that swiftly recognizes constituents’ needs and acts to address them. If the trifecta is toppled, our hope is that the state will serve as the gold standard nationally for what divided government can achieve.