Boldon's state Senate victory helps give DFL control of the Senate and one-party rule in St. Paul

Nov. 9—ROCHESTER — It was an election year in which most, if not all, of the fundamentals favored the state Republican Party and its candidates.

High food and fuel prices, four-decade-high inflation, lingering anger over Gov. Tim Walz's reliance on shutdowns to contain a pandemic, and the rioting and "burning" of Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd.

It all seemed to point to a Republican year. It didn't happen that way.

After the dust had settled, DFL Gov. Tim Walz had not only secured a second term and the DFL Party had retained its majority in the state House, but the party flipped the state Senate.

There was not only no "red wave" in Minnesota, just more blue.

A key race in turning the tide in favor of DFL control of the Senate occurred in Rochester when Rep. Liz Boldon defeated GOP opponent Ken Navitsky.

A nurse and one-term state representative, Boldon's win on Tuesday was one of a handful of key DFL Senate victories to put the DFL over the top in the upper chamber and give the DFL one-party rule in St. Paul. Prior to the election, the GOP held a 34-to-31 advantage in the Senate. The DFL now has a 34-to-33 edge.

State and local DFL leaders had targeted one of Rochester's two Senate seats for years. On Tuesday, it finally flipped one in their favor.

"I think what it means is we'll be able to pass policies that Minnesotans want," Boldon said. "They want to see fully funded education. They want to see hope over division. They want to see us take action to make health care more affordable."

Boldon's seat had been held by Republican Dave Senjem, a 20-year state senator. But after redistricting, it became a progressive stronghold and Senjem decided to retire from the Senate. He ran instead for a seat on the Olmsted County Board of Commissioners and won.

The state GOP is in the midst of a long, two-decade losing streak. GOP candidates, including those for governor, haven't won a statewide race since 2006. The last Republican to win such a race was Tim Pawlenty in 2006, when he won a second term for governor. So the question remains: What will it take?

Political analyst Steven Schier said political weakness at the top of the ticket hurt the GOP in down-ballot races on Tuesday. Scott Jensen, the GOP's gubernatorial nominee, was a vaccine skeptic and echoed statements of election deniers. The race ended up not being close, as Walz won 52% to 45%.

"There were a lot of very close races, and one thing is weakness at the top of the ticket really hurts Republicans generally," Schier said.

Schier said that Democrats went into the election with three assets: Their base was mobilized, it had a superior get-out-vote organization, and its financial advantage over the GOP was "vast."

"The Republicans claimed that they would have momentum this time. But that's all they had," Schier said.

Schier said the Minnesota GOP's challenge lies in looking beyond their activists and broadening its appeal to the 44% of Minnesotans who live in the suburbs.

Bill Kuisle, a local GOP leader and former state legislator, called the overall results for Republicans "disappointing." The distribution of votes showed that there was still a sharp rural-metro divide that favored the DFL.

Kuisle said the repeal of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court in June was a significant factor in the election and, if the abortion issue hadn't been on the table as a prominent issue, "I think it would have been landslide for Republicans," he said.

Kuisle said he worries that outcomes of Tuesday's election will mean that agricultural and rural issues in Greater Minnesota won't be adequately represented in St. Paul in coming legislative sessions.

"They'll throw money this way, but they will also throw rules and regulations at us," said Kuisle, who is a farmer. "And on the spending side, they got some $9 billion or whatever that they can spend now."

Kuisle was referring to the last legislative session in which Walz and the DFL-controlled House, on one side, and the GOP-led Senate, on the other, were unable to divvy up a $9 billion surplus. Now, Democrats will have a strong hand in deciding on how that money is spent.

While many professed surprise at the outcome and the GOP's poor performance, Bolden said she wasn't. She knocked on thousands of doors over the last month, and heard scores of stories from people feeling squeezed by inflation and rising cost of living.

"The answer to that is not giving tax breaks to wealthy corporations. The answer is to invest and help families afford their lives," Boldon said.

Boldon said that former President Donald Trump's influence and that of his MAGA supporters benefited Democrats, because the "vast majority of Minnesotans" don't want the fear and division.

"That's not what we want in our communities, and so I think that, to that extent, it played a role," she said.

Area Republicans said there will need to be some soul-searching to determine where the party goes from here. Chris Brandt, chairman of the Republican Party of Olmsted County, said he wasn't prepared to abandon the caucus and convention endorsing process where 2,000 or so delegates pick the party's candidate for governor.

The Democrats use the same process, but their candidates are less hesitant to abandon the process and run in statewide primaries.

Minnesota, Brandt said, is probably the bluest state in the nation, although it does have some red pockets. It has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee for the past four decades.

"Nationwide, the red wave didn't materialize," Brandt said, "so it's certainly not a Minnesota thing."