Two special general elections are scheduled for February 4 in District 30A and District 60A of the Minnesota House of Representatives. The filing deadline for the special elections passed on December 10, and a primary was held on January 14.
District 30A
Chad Hobot (D) and Paul Novotny (R) are facing off in this special election. Hobot was the only candidate to run in the Democratic primary. Novotny advanced to the general election after winning the Republican primary with 87% of the vote.
District 30A was represented by Nick Zerwas (R) between 2013 and 2019. The seat became vacant on December 6, 2019, after Zerwas resigned due to a heart condition.
District 60A
Sydney Jordan (D) and Marty Super (Legal Marijuana Now Party) are facing off in this special election. Jordan advanced from the Democratic primary with a 28% plurality of the vote in an 11-candidate field. The Republican primary was canceled after no Republicans filed to run in the race. Super was the only Legal Marijuana Now candidate to file in that party’s primary.
District 60A was represented by Diane Loeffler (D) between 2004 and 2019. The seat became vacant on November 16, 2019, after Loeffler passed away.
Heading into the election, Democrats have a 74-58 majority in the Minnesota House of Representatives with two vacancies. Minnesota has a divided government, and no political party holds a state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers.
As of February, 28 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2020 in 13 states. Between 2011 and 2019, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.
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