Party control of Minnesota state government

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Party control
in Minnesota
GovernorDemocratic
SenateDemocratic
HouseRepublican
Click here for party control in all 50 states

Minnesota has a Democratic triplex and a divided trifecta. The Democratic Party controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, and attorney general. The Democratic Party controls the upper chamber, while the Republican Party controls the lower chamber of the state legislature.

As of March 16, 2025, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 12 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control.

As of March 16, 2025, there are 25 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and 5 divided governments where neither party holds triplex control.

A state government trifecta is a term to describe when one political party holds majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office. A state government triplex is a term to describe when one political party holds the following three positions in a state's government: governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. To learn more about trifectas and triplexes, click here.

Current leadership of key offices

Governor

Tim Walz (D)

President of the State Senate

Bobby Joe Champion (D)

State Speaker of the House

Lisa Demuth (R)


Historical party control

Minnesota Party Control: 1992-2024
Four years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Governor R R R R R R R I I I I R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R D D D D R R R R R R D D
House D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D R R D D R R R R D D D D D D

Legislative party competitiveness score

Professors of Political Science Gerald Gamm and Thad Kousser, University of Rochester and University of California San Diego, respectively, claim that states with competitive party systems spend more on education, health, and transportation. They base this on a study of each state's party competitiveness from 1880 (or year of statehood) to 2010. They assigned each state legislature a competitiveness score, which "can range from 100% if the two parties are evenly matched to 0% if one party holds every seat in a legislature."[1]

The below chart shows the state's legislative party competitiveness score from 1880 to 1990. The chart offers a look into competitiveness prior to Ballotpedia's 1992 analysis.

See also

Footnotes