2018 Minnesota State Auditor election

2018 Minnesota State Auditor election
	Blaha: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Myhra: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%
State Auditor before election; Rebecca Otto; Democratic (DFL)	Elected State Auditor ; Julie Blaha; Democratic (DFL)

The 2018 Minnesota State Auditor election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the state auditor of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Julie Blaha, the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) endorsed candidate, won the election.

Background

DFL incumbent Rebecca Otto was first elected in 2006, defeating one-term Republican incumbent Pat Anderson. Otto was re-elected in 2010 and 2014. On January 9, 2017, Otto announced she would seek election to be governor and would not seek re-election to be state auditor.^[1]

Candidates

Republican Party of Minnesota

Pam Myhra, Certified Public Accountant, member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015; candidate for the Republican nomination for Minnesota's 2nd congressional district in 2016; candidate for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor as Marty Seifert's running mate in 2014^[2]

Myhra was unanimously endorsed by the Republicans on June 2, 2018, at their state convention.^[3]

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party

Julie Blaha, secretary-treasurer of the Minnesota AFL–CIO; former president of Anoka-Hennepin Education Minnesota; former middle school math teacher^[4]

Blaha was endorsed by the DFL over Jon Tollefson on June 3, 2018, at their state convention.^[5] Tollefson filed for office, but later withdrew.^[6]

Withdrawn

Jack Dickinson, small business owner^[7]
- Withdrew on February 6, 2018, and endorsed Jon Tollefson.^[8]
Jon Tollefson, lobbyist for the Minnesota Nurses Association; candidate for the DFL nomination for Minnesota's 3rd congressional district in 2016; candidate for the DFL nomination for District 44B in the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2014^[9]
- Withdrew on June 7, 2018.^[6]

Minor parties and independents

Chris Dock, Libertarian Party of Minnesota^[10]
Michael Ford, Legal Marijuana Now Party^[10]

Results

Minnesota State Auditor election, 2018^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic (DFL)	Julie Blaha	1,250,524	49.35%	−2.16%
	Republican	Pam Myhra	1,095,310	43.23%	+3.25%
	Legal Marijuana Now	Michael Ford	133,913	5.28%	N/A
	Libertarian	Chris Dock	53,068	2.09%	+0.51%
	Write-in		1,125	0.04%	0.00%
Total votes			2,533,940	100.0%	N/A
	Democratic (DFL) hold

By congressional district

Blaha won 4 of 8 congressional districts, with the remaining four going to Myhra, including one that elected a Democrat.^[12]

District	Blaha	Myhra	Representative
1st	43%	50%	Jim Hagedorn
2nd	47%	45%	Angie Craig
3rd	50%	44%	Dean Phillips
4th	61%	31%	Betty McCollum
5th	73%	19%	Ilhan Omar
6th	37%	55%	Tom Emmer
7th	37%	57%	Collin Peterson
8th	44%	49%	Pete Stauber

References

^ Coolican, J. Patrick (January 9, 2017). "State Auditor Rebecca Otto enters 2018 race for governor". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
^ Van Berkel, Jessie (January 9, 2018). "Pam Myhra, former state lawmaker, is first Republican in Minnesota state auditor's race". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
^ Van Berkel, Jessie; Rao, Maya (June 2, 2018). "DFL endorses Pelikan for AG after Swanson drops bid for party nod". Star Tribune. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
^ Golden, Erin (December 11, 2017). "Third DFLer joins race for Minnesota state auditor". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
^ Van Berkel, Jessie (June 4, 2018). "Outspoken legislator Erin Maye Quade endorsed as Erin Murphy's running mate in governor's race". Star Tribune. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Bakst, Brian (June 7, 2018). "Second thoughts? Some MN candidates withdraw after sign-up storm". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
^ Pugmire, Tim (October 3, 2017). "Race for state auditor gets another DFL candidate". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
^ Bierschbach, Briana; Brodey, Sam; Nehil, Tom. "Minnesota Election 2018: Who's running". MinnPost. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
^ Pugmire, Tim (June 22, 2017). "Tollefson enters race for state auditor". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Candidate Filings". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
^ "Statewide Results for State Auditor". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
^ "Home - Election Results".

External links

Elections & Voting - Minnesota Secretary of State

Official Minnesota State Auditor candidate websites

[1] Coolican, J. Patrick (January 9, 2017). "State Auditor Rebecca Otto enters 2018 race for governor". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 16, 2018.

[2] Van Berkel, Jessie (January 9, 2018). "Pam Myhra, former state lawmaker, is first Republican in Minnesota state auditor's race". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 16, 2018.

[st_20180602-3] Van Berkel, Jessie; Rao, Maya (June 2, 2018). "DFL endorses Pelikan for AG after Swanson drops bid for party nod". Star Tribune. Retrieved June 2, 2018.

[4] Golden, Erin (December 11, 2017). "Third DFLer joins race for Minnesota state auditor". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 16, 2018.

[5] Van Berkel, Jessie (June 4, 2018). "Outspoken legislator Erin Maye Quade endorsed as Erin Murphy's running mate in governor's race". Star Tribune. Retrieved June 4, 2018.

[mpr_20180607-6] Bakst, Brian (June 7, 2018). "Second thoughts? Some MN candidates withdraw after sign-up storm". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved June 7, 2018.

[7] Pugmire, Tim (October 3, 2017). "Race for state auditor gets another DFL candidate". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved January 16, 2018.

[8] Bierschbach, Briana; Brodey, Sam; Nehil, Tom. "Minnesota Election 2018: Who's running". MinnPost. Retrieved February 7, 2018.

[9] Pugmire, Tim (June 22, 2017). "Tollefson enters race for state auditor". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved January 16, 2018.

[mnsosfilings-10] "Candidate Filings". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved June 12, 2018.

[11] "Statewide Results for State Auditor". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved November 18, 2018.

[12] "Home - Election Results".

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