Trend in Plurality Winners In Minnesota State Elections
Since 1998, when Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura took the governor’s seat with just 37 percent of the vote, there has been a growing number of competitive multi-candidate races in Minnesota's partisan federal and state elections and an increase in the number of candidates who have won with less than a majority of votes. With the emergence of the Independence Party and other third parties in Minnesota over the past decade, the trend in plurality winners shows no signs of slowing.
The following graph shows that more than 40 state and federal partisan races since 1998 have been decided by a minority of voters, including the past three gubernatorial elections and the highly contested 2008 senate election. These outcomes do not include partisan primary contests that have resulted in plurality winners -- notably, the 2000 DFL and IP primaries for US Senate (Mark Dayton, 41 percent; Jim Gibson, 46 percent, respectively) and the 2006 DFL primary for the 5th Congressional District (Keith Ellison, 41 percent).
List of Races by Year
| Year | Race | Winner | Party | % of votes |
| 1998 | Governor | Jesse Ventura | Reform | 37.00 |
| 1998 | House District 4A | Doug Fuller | R | 49.10 |
| 1998 | House District 24B | Julie Storm | R | 46.20 |
| 1998 | House District 52B | Barb Haake | R | 48.50 |
| 2000 | U.S. Senate | Mark Dayton | DFL | 48.83 |
| 2000 | Congressional District 2 | Mark Kennedy | R | 48.10 |
| 2000 | Congressional District 4 | Betty McCCollum | DFL | 48.04 |
| 2000 | Congressional District 6 | Bill Luther | DFL | 49.56 |
| 2000 | Senate District 13 | Charles Berg | R | 45.63 |
| 2000 | Senate District 18 | Twyla Ring | DFL | 49.70 |
| 2000 | Senate District 21 | Arlene Lesewski | R | 48.01 |
| 2000 | House District 17B | Leslie Schumacher | DFL | 45.90 |
| 2000 | House District 18A | Robert Eastlund | R | 45.33 |
| 2000 | House District 18B | Loren Geo Jennings | DFL | 48.59 |
| 2000 | House District 46A | Mark Thompson | DFL | 47.79 |
| 2000 | House District 53B | Carl Jacobson | R | 48.55 |
| 2002 | Governor | Tim Pawlenty | R | 42.00 |
| 2002 | US Senate | Norm Coleman | R | 49.53 |
| 2002 | Senate District 23 | John Hottinger | DFL | 47.31 |
| 2002 | Senate District 24 | Julie Rosen | R | 47.37 |
| 2002 | Senate District 27 | Dan Sparks | DFL | 45.54 |
| 2002 | Senate District 30 | Sheila Kiscaden | IP | 41.56 |
| 2002 | Senate District 62 | Jane Ranum | DFL | 48.30 |
| 2002 | House District 14A | Dan Severson | DFL | 48.50 |
| 2002 | House District 19B | Dick Borrell | R | 45.93 |
| 2002 | House District 25A | Laura Brod | R | 46.07 |
| 2002 | House District 30A | Carla Nelson | R | 39.77 |
| 2002 | Secretary of State | Mary Kiffmeyer | R | 47.56 |
| 2002 | State Auditor | Pat Awada | R | 44.63 |
| 2004 | House District 23A | Ruth Johnson | DFL | 49.60 |
| 2004 | House District 26B | Patti Fritz | DFL | 46.68 |
| 2004 | House District 40A | Duke Powell | R | 49.52 |
| 2006 | Governor | Tim Pawlenty | R | 46.00 |
| 2006 | Senate District 31 | Sharon Erickson Ropes | DFL | 46.74 |
| 2006 | Secretary of State | Mark Ritchie | DFL | 49.09 |
| 2008 | U.S. Senate | Al Franken | DFL | 42.00 |
| 2008 | Congressional District 3 | Eric Paulsen | R | 48.48 |
| 2008 | Congressional District 6 | Michele Bachmann | R | 46.41 |
| 2008 | Senate District 16 | Lisa Fobbe | DFL | 48.25 |
| 2008 | House District 41A | Keith Downey | R | 36.68 |
| 2008 | House District 51A | Tim Sanders | R | 46.83 |
| 2010 | Senate District 26 | Mike Parry | R | 43.04 |
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State Election Results