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.

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.

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.