The 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota took place in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 4, 2014, to elect Minnesota's eight representatives in the United States House of Representatives for two-year terms, one from each of Minnesota's eight congressional districts. Primary elections were held on August 12, 2014.
In these elections, Minnesotans elected their oldest U.S. House delegation across the 80 cycles since statehood, at an average age of 58.8 years: Rick Nolan (age 70), Collin Peterson (70), John Kline (67), Betty McCollum (60), Keith Ellison (51), Tom Emmer (53), Tim Walz (50) and Erik Paulsen (49).
Video United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, 2014
Overview
Maps United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, 2014
District 1
DFL incumbent Tim Walz has represented the 1st district since 2007.
Republican State Representative Mike Benson, Jim Hagedorn of Blue Earth and U.S. Army veteran Aaron Miller of Byron all sought the nomination to challenge Walz. Hagedorn and Miller had pledged to abide by the Republican endorsement while Benson did not. On April 5, 2014, Aaron Miller won the GOP endorsement. Benson and Hagedorn then withdrew, though Hagedorn re-entered the race on May 18, expressing concerns that Miller was not dedicating enough time to the race.
Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- Tim Walz, incumbent U.S. Representative
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
- Declared
- Jim Hagedorn, candidate for the seat in 2010
- Aaron Miller, U.S. Army veteran
- Withdrew
- Mike Benson, State Representative
- Declined
- Jeremy Miller, State Senator
Results
General election
Polling
- * Internal poll for the Jim Hagedorn campaign
Results
District 2
Republican Representative John Kline was rumored to be interested in running for Governor of Minnesota or the United States Senate. Instead, he announced he would seek re-election. David Gerson challenged Kline for the Republican nomination but conceded after Kline won the Republican endorsement.
The 2014 election in the 2nd district was expected to be one of the tightest congressional races in the country. Kline's district was one of 17 Republican congressional districts to vote for President Barack Obama in 2012, and polling data suggested a Democratic challenger could unseat Kline.
Republican primary
Candidates
- Declared
- John Kline, incumbent U.S. Representative
- Withdrew
- David Gerson, candidate for the seat in 2012
- Declined
- Kurt Bills, former State Representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012
- Chris Gerlach, State Senator and Dakota County Commissioner
- Pat Garofalo, State Representative
- Kelby Woodard, State Representative
Results
Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary
Mike Obermueller, who lost to Kline in 2012, had decided to run again. He won the DFL endorsement on April 26, 2014. Sona Mehring, the founder of CaringBridge, declared her candidacy, but dropped out of the race three weeks later. Thomas Craft, who volunteered for Obermueller in the 2012 race, declared his candidacy in July 2013 and positioned himself as a fiscally conservative, socially liberal alternative to Kline and Obermueller. Craft ceased his campaign after Obermueller won the DFL endorsement. Eagan quality assurance analyst Paula Overby initially sought the DFL endorsement but withdrew after Obermueller won it and instead became the Independence Party nominee.
- Declared
- Mike Obermueller, former State Representative and nominee for the seat in 2012
- Michael Roberts
- Withdrew
- Thomas Craft, IT consultant
- Sona Mehring, founder of CaringBridge
- Paula Overby, quality assurance analyst (ran for the Independence nomination)
Results
Independence primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- Paula Overby, quality assurance analyst
Results
General election
Polling
Results
District 3
Republican U.S. Representative Erik Paulsen considered running for Governor or the United States Senate in 2014. He announced he would seek re-election to the U.S. House instead.
Republican primary
Candidates
- Declared
- Erik Paulsen, incumbent U.S. Representative
Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary
Candidates
- Declared
- Sharon Sund, businesswoman
- Declined
- James Lawrence, businessman
- Don Shelby, former WCCO-TV anchor
General election
Results
District 4
Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- Betty McCollum, incumbent U.S. Representative
Republican primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- Sharna Wahlgren
Independence primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- Dave Thomas, educator, firefighter and Iraq War veteran
General election
Results
District 5
Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- Keith Ellison, incumbent U.S Representative
Republican primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- Doug Daggett
Independence primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- Lee Bauer
General election
Results
District 6
Republican U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann won re-election in 2012, defeating DFL nominee Jim Graves by approximately 1.2 percentage points, although fellow Republican Mitt Romney received 56% of the vote to Democrat Barack Obama's 41% in this district in the 2012 presidential election. Bachmann announced on May 29, 2013, that she would not seek re-election. Graves, who had previously said he would run again, said he would continue to run. However, on May 31, 2013, Graves announced that he was suspending his campaign.
Former State Representative and 2010 gubernatorial nominee Tom Emmer and Anoka County Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah are seeking the Republican nomination. Allan Levene, a Kennesaw, Georgia, resident who sought the Republican nomination in four congressional districts in four separate states, including Minnesota, ultimately did not file an affidavit of candidacy.
Republican primary
Candidates
- Declared
- Tom Emmer, former State Representative and nominee for Governor in 2010
- Rhonda Sivarajah, Anoka County Commissioner
- Withdrew
- Phil Krinkie, former State Representative
- Allan Levene, resident of Georgia running in three other congressional races
- John Pederson, State Senator
- Declined
- Michele Bachmann, incumbent U.S. Representative
Polling
- * Internal poll for the Tom Emmer campaign.
Results
Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary
Joe Perske, Mayor of Sartell, Minnesota, was the DFL endorsed candidate and nominee. Judy Adams, a painter and environmental activist, and Jim Read, an author and professor of political science at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, both withdrew after failing to win the DFL endorsement.
Candidates
- Nominee
- Joe Perske, Mayor of Sartell
- Withdrew
- Judy Adams, environmental activist
- Jim Graves, businessman and nominee for the seat in 2012
- Jim Read, professor at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University
Results
Independence primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- John Denney
Results
General election
Results
District 7
The 7th district covers almost the entire western side of Minnesota. It is the largest district in the state and one of the largest in the country and includes the cities of Moorhead, Fergus Falls, Alexandria and Willmar. The incumbent was DFLer Collin Peterson, who had represented the district since 1991. He was re-elected with 60% of the vote in 2012 and the district has a PVI of R+6.
In 2013, Republicans began pressuring Peterson, in hopes of convincing him to retire. His seat was one of only a handful that was represented by a Democrat but was carried by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in the 2012 election and was seen as a top pick-up opportunity had Peterson retired. Their tactics included airing television advertisements, hiring a press staffer to give opposition research to reporters, hiring a tracker to follow him around his district and record him, and sending mobile billboards with critical statements on them to drive around his hometown. Peterson responded by saying "They don't have anybody else to go after. It's kind of ridiculous, but whatever." After Republicans spread rumors that Peterson was planning to buy a house in Florida and retire there, he said: "I went from neutral on running again to 90 percent just because of this stupid stuff they're doing. You can't let these people be in charge of anything, in my opinion." On March 17, 2014, Peterson officially announced that he was running for re-election, saying, "I still have a lot of work to do."
Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- Collin Peterson, incumbent U.S. Representative
- Declined
- Paul Marquart, State Representative
Republican primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- Torrey Westrom, State Senator
- Declined
- Dan Fabian, State Representative
- Mary Franson, State Representative
- Bill Ingebrigtsen, State Senator
- Morrie Lanning, former State Representative
- Marty Seifert, former Minority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives and candidate for Governor of Minnesota in 2010 and 2014
- Scott Van Binsbergen, businessman
General election
Polling
- * Internal poll for the National Republican Congressional Committee
- ^ Internal poll for the Torrey Westrom campaign
- ** Internal poll for the Collin Peterson campaign
Results
District 8
Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- Rick Nolan, incumbent U.S. Representative
Republican primary
Candidates
- Nominee
- Stewart Mills III, Mills Fleet Farm executive
Green Party
- Nominee
- Skip Sandman
General election
Polling
- * Internal poll for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Results
See also
- Minnesota elections, 2014
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2014
References
External links
- Elections & Voting - Minnesota Secretary of State
- U.S. House elections in Minnesota, 2014 at Ballotpedia
- Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
Source of article : Wikipedia
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