MINNESOTA ELECTIONS: Walz squeaks by Hagedorn

Surprising to most congressional race was so close

MINNEAPOLIS — The Latest on Election Day in Minnesota:

3:25 a.m.

Democrat Tim Walz has survived a GOP wave to hang on to his southern Minnesota seat in Congress.

Walz squeaked past Republican Jim Hagedorn in a race that was a rematch of 2014.

The race hadn’t been expected to be close. Outside groups spent little for Hagedorn, who carried some baggage from the race two years ago.

A former member of the Army National Guard, Walz ousted a six-term incumbent in 2006 to win his congressional seat and had regularly cruised to re-election for each of his five terms.

Hagedorn is the son of a former Minnesota congressman.

3:10 a.m.

Republicans have the upper hand in the battle for control of the Minnesota Senate.

The final word will hinge on close elections in Lakeville and Apple Valley.

And a pair of races in Plymouth and St. Cloud that favored Republicans are headed for an automatic recount because of tiny margins of victory.

Democrats were protecting a six-seat majority in the Senate heading into Election Day. Though they defeated the top Senate Republican, Democrats suffered heavy losses in rural districts that could cost them that majority.

3:05 a.m.

Conservative former radio host Jason Lewis has beaten Democrat Angie Craig to keep retiring U.S. Rep. John Kline’s southern Minnesota seat in Republican hands.

Lewis weathered a barrage of attack ads airing controversial comments he made on his radio show to win in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District in Tuesday’s election.

The race for one of the nation’s few swing districts was regarded as a toss-up. Kline opted to retire after seven terms.

During the campaign, Craig contrasted her private business experience as a former St. Jude Medical executive with Lewis’ long career on talk radio. Voters were hammered with ads that played back comments of Lewis calling women “non-thinking” for their views on contraception and other clips. Lewis had called the ads unfair and wrong.

2:55 p.m.

Democratic U.S. Rep Rick Nolan has won his third straight term representing northeast Minnesota.

Nolan held on Tuesday to survive a rematch against Republican Stewart Mills.

Republicans had eyed Nolan’s seat for a potential upset. They believed GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s platform would appeal to the area’s mining towns reeling from a steel industry downturn.

Once a reliable Democratic stronghold, the 8th Congressional District has become competitive by growing to include more conservative areas. The race was one of the most expensive congressional elections in the country.

Mills is a wealthy scion of a Minnesota chain of retail stores. Nolan narrowly defeated him in 2014.

Nolan’s victory prolongs his second stint in Congress that began in 2012. Nolan also served in Congress in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

2:50 p.m.

The outcome of the fight for control of Minnesota’s Senate is on hold.

Democrats were protecting a six-seat majority in the Senate heading into Election Day. Though they defeated the top Senate Republican, Democrats suffered heavy losses in rural districts that could cost them that majority.

But a pair of races in Plymouth and St. Cloud that favored Republicans are headed for an automatic recount because of tiny margins of victory. Senate Democrats were also awaiting the final results in a critical Apple Valley Senate seat.

A Republican win against Sen. Greg Clausen could seal the majority for the GOP. House Republicans held on to control of their own majority.

2:30 a.m.

U.S. Rep. Tim Walz has often been mentioned as a potential governor some day, but he’s at risk of being knocked off in his re-election bid.

Walz was among many Democrats unexpectedly struggling in what was turning out to be a wave election for Republicans. He was locked in the tightest of races with Republican Jim Hagedorn in a race that seemed like a candidate for recount early Wednesday.

A former member of the Army National Guard, Walz ousted a six-term incumbent in 2006 to win his congressional seat and has regularly cruised to re-election for each of his five terms. He easily beat Hagedorn two years ago.

Hagedorn, the son of a former Minnesota congressman, struggled to mount a serious campaign that year. He was hurt by dismal fundraising and questions about some of his blog posts in which he disparaged Native Americans and gays, among other groups.

The 2016 rematch was widely regarded as a sure thing for Walz, and outside political groups spent little money in the race.

1:30 a.m. 

Voters have returned Associate Justice Natalie Hudson to the Minnesota Supreme Court in her first election test since Gov. Mark Dayton appointed her last year to fill the seat of retiring Justice Alan Page. 

Hudson defeated family law attorney Michelle MacDonald in Tuesday’s nonpartisan race. Her re-election leaves the state’s highest court with a majority of justices appointed by the Democratic governor. Dayton has named four of the seven justices. He chose Hudson, who is African-American, to replace Page, the first black justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. 

Hudson previously served 14 years on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. She also spent two years as St. Paul city attorney. 

In Minnesota, judicial appointments don’t require legislative confirmation. Judges must periodically stand for election, but few incumbents face serious challenges 

1:30 a.m. 

Minnesota House Minority Leader Paul Thissen has conceded that Democrats won’t take back the chamber next year. 

Democrats pressed incumbent Republicans in suburban and rural districts in their quest to reverse the GOP’s seven-seat majority. But Democrats lost too many of those challenges amid Donald Trump’s stronger-than-expected showing at the presidential level. 

Thissen said he’s contacted Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt early Wednesday morning to concede the majority. 

The outcome of Senate control was in flux as Democrats defended their six-seat majority. It could hinge on automatic recounts triggered by razor-thin elections in Plymouth and St. Cloud districts. 

An all-Republican Legislature could complicate Gov. Mark Dayton’s final two years in office. The Democratic governor had made the case to voters to flip control of the House back to Republicans. 

1:10 a.m.

Hillary Clinton is clinging to a narrow lead in Minnesota as Donald Trump nears a stunning presidential victory.

Democrats laughed at the idea that the Republican business mogul could break Minnesota’s 40-year streak of voting for Democrats. But Clinton held a marginal lead as the final results trickled in Wednesday morning.

Neither campaign paid much attention to Minnesota, a state that has voted for Democrats in every presidential election since 1976. Trump and running mate Mike Pence hosted rallies in the campaign’s final days. Clinton dispatched several surrogates.

Trump’s better-than-expected showing was causing heartburn for other Democratic candidates down the ballot. Rep. Tim Walz’s re-election wasn’t on Democrat’s radar as a challenge. But the southern Minnesota Democrat was neck-and-neck with GOP candidate Jim Hagedorn. 

12:05 a.m. 

Minnesota voters have approved a constitutional amendment to hand power for setting the pay of state representatives and senators to an independent body. 

Minnesota lawmakers haven’t approved a pay raise since 1999. Legislators often say they’re underpaid, but they’re also worried about a political backlash if they vote to increase their own salaries. 

The state’s 201 part-time legislators are paid about $31,000 a year, though leaders make more. Allowances for expenses can bump that up an additional $9,000 or $10,000. 

The amendment approved Tuesday sets up a group of eight Democrats and eight Republicans to decide pay raises. No members can be current or former lawmakers or state officials or their relatives. 

11 p.m. 

Donald Trump’s stronger-than-expected performance in Minnesota is giving Democrats heartburn. 

The Republican nominee was trailing Hillary Clinton with more than half of precincts reporting, but not by the margins Democrats have come to expect. Minnesota hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972. 

But Trump wasn’t dragging down fellow Republicans down the ballot like Democrats had hoped. 

GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen easily won a fifth term in his suburban district. Former conservative radio host Jason Lewis built a sizable lead over Democrat Angie Craig in early returns in the 2nd Congressional District. 

Even Democrats who were assumed as locks for re-election are sweating it out. Rep. Tim Walz was locked in a tight race with Republican Jim Hagedorn. Walz beat Hagedorn by nearly 10 percentage points in 2014. 

10:20 p.m.

A Republican House candidate who posted “IT’S LYNCHING TIME” on Facebook after President Barack Obama’s 2008 election has won a Blaine legislative seat.

Nolan West narrowly edged Democratic opponent Susan Witt with all votes counted in the suburban district. His 0.74-point margin is outside the state’s automatic recount trigger.

The seat is comfortable Republican territory but Democrats pounced for a possible upset after the Star Tribune reported on West’s racist remarks over the summer. West lost his job as a House Republican aide but continued campaigning.

House Republicans had largely abandoned West’s campaign after the Star Tribune reported on his racist remarks over the summer. But the GOP-aligned Minnesota Jobs Coalition started airing ads attacking Witt late last week.

10:05 p.m.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton holds a wide lead in Minnesota’s early returns.

Clinton has long been favored to beat Donald Trump and capture Minnesota’s 10 electoral votes due to the state’s 40-year streak of breaking for Democrats. The last Republican to win Minnesota was Richard Nixon.

Trump and running mate Mike Pence made last-minute visits to Minnesota while the Clinton campaign dispatched many surrogates. But neither campaign expended much energy on Minnesota.

Most of the drama in Minnesota was centered around three congressional races. Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen easily won a fifth term to his suburban seat by beating Democrat Terri Bonoff. Returns were slowly trickling in from Minnesota’s 2nd and 8th congressional districts.

10 p.m.

Minnesota Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen has won a fifth term, surviving a Democratic challenger who sought to tie him to Donald Trump.

Paulsen defeated state Sen. Terri Bonoff in Tuesday’s elections. Paulsen’s victory closes out Bonoff’s longshot challenge in the 3rd Congressional District representing western Minneapolis suburbs.

Bonoff and Democratic outside political groups launched attacks that aimed to drag down Paulsen in the wealthy, well-educated suburbs by comparing him to Trump. Bonoff entered the race after it became clear Trump would secure the party’s nomination.

Paulsen was careful while speaking about Trump throughout the campaign, eventually declaring he wouldn’t vote for the Republican nominee.

8:05 p.m.

Minnesota has elected the nation’s first Somali-American lawmaker.

Ilhan Omar won a spot in the state House on Tuesday. She’ll represent a district in Minneapolis that’s home to the largest Somali population outside of the east African country.

She was all but sure to win in the heavily Democratic district. She defeated one of the state’s longest-serving lawmakers in a Democratic primary this summer. Her Republican rival later dropped out of the race.

Omar is a 33-year-old community activist who came to the United States as an 8-year-old after spending years in a Kenyan refugee camp. Her victory seals the growing political clout of the area’s Somali community.

Minneapolis previously elected a Somali city councilman and school board member.

8 p.m.

The voting is over and the counting is underway in Minnesota.

Minnesota voters cast their ballots in races that would help determine the presidency, a trio of competitive congressional districts and which party would control the state House and Senate next year.

Exit polls conducted for the Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research showed voters say the economy is the top issue facing the country. Voters also questioned the honesty of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Six in 10 voters say Clinton isn’t trustworthy, slightly less than the two-thirds who say the same about Trump.

Just how that will impact the presidential election is unclear. Clinton was the heavy favorite to capture a state that has broken for Democrats for 40 years.

6:55 p.m.

The power to decide who sets Minnesota lawmakers’ pay is in voters hands. They just may not know it.

A constitutional amendment to give that authority to an independent commission was on Tuesday’s ballot. Lawmakers are currently charged with setting their own pay but it hasn’t changed since 1999. Most legislators make just $31,000 annually.

A pair of Apple Valley voters thought all 201 lawmakers make $100,000 or more. Both Patricia Kramlinger and Luis Beltran said they voted for the amendment.

Beltran says it’s unfair that lawmakers decide their own salaries. He was floored when he learned their salary is much smaller than he had assumed.

Unlike controversial constitutional amendments on the ballot in 2012, there has been little campaigning on either side of the lawmaker pay issue.