Rural shifts help Democrats flip Senate District 58

Rural shifts help Democrats flip Senate District 58

Democratic gains across much of Senate District 58, including in traditionally Republican rural communities, helped DFL challenger Mark Legvold narrowly unseat Republican Sen. Bill Lieske in Tuesday’s election.

Legvold received 22,889 votes, or 50.7%, compared with Lieske’s 22,226 votes, or 49.2%, according to unofficial results from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office. The 663-vote margin marked a reversal from 2022, when Lieske defeated Democrat Clarice Grabau by 2,271 votes.

More than 45,000 votes were cast in the Senate contest, an increase of more than 5,100 from 2022, when Lieske was first elected to a four-year term. Over $1.2 million in outside spending also characterized the competitive race.

An analysis of precinct-level results from the two elections shows much of the district shifted toward Democrats over the four-year period, including rural townships and smaller communities where Republicans maintained substantial advantages.

The changes illustrate how individual precincts could remain Republican while contributing to an overall Democratic shift across the district.

In Dakota County’s Empire precinct, for examp...