Esther Agbaje
Esther Agbaje (Democratic Party) is a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, representing District 59B. She assumed office on January 5, 2021. Her current term ends on January 12, 2027.
Agbaje (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Minnesota House of Representatives to represent District 59B. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Esther Agbaje was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Agbaje earned a B.A. in political science from George Washington University, an M.P.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and a J.D. from Harvard University. Her career experience includes working as an associate with the Ciresi Conlin law firm, a negotiator, and a program manager.[1][2]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Agbaje was assigned to the following committees:
- Elections Finance and Policy
- House Housing Finance and Policy Committee, Vice Chair
- House Taxes Committee
- Ways and Means Committee
2021-2022
Agbaje was assigned to the following committees:
- Rules and Legislative Administration Committee, Vice Chair
- House Taxes Committee
- House Capital Investment Committee
- House Housing Finance and Policy Committee
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B
Incumbent Esther Agbaje defeated Kenneth Smoron in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Esther Agbaje (D) | 82.3 | 16,791 | |
| Kenneth Smoron (R) | 17.4 | 3,549 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 52 | ||
| Total votes: 20,392 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Esther Agbaje advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Kenneth Smoron advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Agbaje in this election.
2022
See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B
Incumbent Esther Agbaje won election in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Esther Agbaje (D) | 98.5 | 13,225 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.5 | 200 | ||
| Total votes: 13,425 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Esther Agbaje advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B.
2020
See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B
Esther Agbaje defeated Alan Shilepsky and Lisa Neal-Delgado in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Esther Agbaje (D) | 74.3 | 17,649 | |
| Alan Shilepsky (R) | 17.9 | 4,249 | ||
| Lisa Neal-Delgado (G) | 7.6 | 1,804 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 37 | ||
| Total votes: 23,739 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B
Esther Agbaje defeated incumbent Raymond Dehn and Isaiah Whitmore in the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B on August 11, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Esther Agbaje | 48.2 | 4,443 | |
| Raymond Dehn | 41.6 | 3,836 | ||
| Isaiah Whitmore | 10.1 | 932 | ||
| Total votes: 9,211 | ||||
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Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B
Alan Shilepsky advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B on August 11, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Alan Shilepsky | 100.0 | 402 | |
| Total votes: 402 | ||||
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Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Esther Agbaje did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Esther Agbaje did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Esther Agbaje completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Agbaje's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- The main messages of my campaign are inclusivity, community health and wellbeing, and boldness. With an equity and inclusion lens to policy I will ask questions to ensure that people of color, people with disabilities, poor people, and those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community are considered in policy making.
- From that perspective my two main issues are housing and environmental justice. These two issue areas interact with other issues like education, living wage jobs, universal healthcare, and police accountability because housing and a clean environment are the basis of community health and wellbeing.
- Finally I will move boldly on the issues important to my community. The isues of housing, education, healthcare and jobs were already urgent, but COVID and the protests after George Floyd's murder showed even more that we could no longer wait until the start aligned to put people first in lawmaking.
Environmental justice is about ensuring that people have a clean environment in which to live. Where people live determines much of their health and life outcomes. Unfortunately Black and Brown communities and low income communities traditionally bear the brunt of pollution. I will fight to prioritize remedying the environmental harms in those communities so that people don't live where the air is harmful, the water is toxic, and the land does not bear fruit. I will work to ensure that Minnesota moves towards 100% renewable energy and meets and maintains high standards to conserve our environmental assets, including the Mississippi River.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Minnesota scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from February 12 to May 20.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 3 to May 22.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 31 to May 23.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 5 to May 17.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B |
Officeholder Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B |
Personal |
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Raymond Dehn (D) |
Minnesota House of Representatives District 59B 2021-Present |
Succeeded by - |
