Money and Historic Stakes Converge in Minnesota's 2026 Elections

Minnesota is heading into November 2026 elections in which control of the state Legislature and the governor's office are both contested. The state House is split 67-67 and the Senate is divided 34-33 in favor of Democrats, making a small number of districts pivotal to which party controls the Capitol. Significant outside spending has been reported in races tied to legislative control. A GOP-aligned group, Minnesotans for Justice, has spent more than $2 million on ads critical of Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is seeking a third term and has raised about $1.3 million with $634,000 in reserve; his Republican challenger, Ron Schutz, has raised about $1.1 million. A Democratic-aligned group, Alliance for a Better Minnesota, has spent $1.8 million on ads targeting Schutz. Combined outside spending on ads across the governor's race and legislative contests has been reported at more than $3.8 million. Separately, the 2026 governor's race features Democrat Amy Klobuchar against Republican Lisa Demuth, currently speaker of the Minnesota House since 2024 and the first Black lawmaker to hold that position. The race is noted as historic because a Klobuchar win would make her the state's first female governor, while a Demuth win would make her both the first female and first Black governor of Minnesota. The relationship between the attorney general race spending figures and the broader $3.8 million legislative ad spending total was not fully reconciled across reports, and final outcomes of the races remain undetermined pending the November election.