Results in the five most expensive Democratic Minnesota Senate primaries


Democratic primary elections for all 67 districts in the Minnesota State Senate took place on Aug. 9, 2022. Of the 67 districts up for election in 2022, 12 had a Democratic primary election with more than one candidate.

Across all contested Democratic primary elections, candidates raised $917,642. Incumbents raised an average of $53,478 per candidate and challengers raised an average of $32,427 per candidate.

Five primary elections with the most fundraising

The table below details the five Democratic primary elections with the most fundraising in the State Senate. Winning candidates’ names are in bold.

District Money Raised Officeholder Candidates
District 45 $246,576 Ann Rest (D) Kelly Morrison and Sam Sant
District 56 $120,220 Lindsey Port (D) Erin Maye Quade and Justin Emmerich
District 3 $112,175 Thomas Bakk (I) Grant Hauschild and Keith Steva
District 62 $85,173 Omar Fateh (D) Omar Fateh and Shaun Laden
District 65 $80,433 Sandra Pappas (D) Sandra Pappas, Sheigh Freeberg, and Zuki Ellis

The officeholders above are listed for the current districts they hold. However, this is a redistricting year, so candidates have been identified below as incumbents even if they are running in a different district than they currently hold.

#1 District 45 – $246,576

Kelly Morrison raised $246,576 and Sam Sant raised.

Kelly Morrison advanced to the general election and Sam Sant withdrew.

#2 District 56 – $120,220

Erin Maye Quade raised $85,612 and Justin Emmerich raised $34,608.

Erin Maye Quade advanced to the general election with 65 percent of the vote and Justin Emmerich received 35 percent of the vote.

#3 District 3 – $112,175

Grant Hauschild raised $100,655 and Keith Steva raised $11,520.

Grant Hauschild advanced to the general election with 100 percent of the vote and Keith Steva withdrew.

#4 District 62 – $85,173

Incumbent Omar Fateh raised $63,210 and Shaun Laden raised $21,963.

Omar Fateh advanced to the general election with 61 percent of the vote and Shaun Laden received 39 percent of the vote.

#5 District 65 – $80,433

Incumbent Sandra Pappas raised $43,746, Sheigh Freeberg raised $27,799, and Zuki Ellis raised $8,889.

Sandra Pappas advanced to the general election with 66 percent of the vote, Sheigh Freeberg received 23 percent of the vote, and Zuki Ellis received 12 percent of the vote.

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Minnesota PACs submitted to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. Federal PACs are not required to report to state agencies. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.

Report Name Report Due Date
2022 Jan Annual 1/31/2022
2022 Q1 4/14/2022
2022 Q2 6/14/2022
2022 Jul Semiannual 7/25/2022
2022 Q3 9/27/2022
2022 Q4 10/31/2022
2022 Jan Annual 1/31/2023

This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.