(Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer)
Voters in two districts selected the party-endorsed candidates in special primaries to fill two vacant state Senate seats on Tuesday.
Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger handily won the primary against Rep. Ethan Cha in District 47 representing suburban Woodbury with 82% of the 2,404 ballots cast. She will face Republican Dwight Dorau, who ran unopposed, in the general election.
The seat was vacated by Sen. Nicole Mitchell this summer after a lengthy criminal saga that ended in two felony burglary convictions for burglarizing her stepmother’s home.
The district leans blue, but may be competitive. The winner will determine the balance of power of the Senate, which Democrats controlled 34-33 before the two vacancies.
Hemmingsen-Jaeger was first elected to the House in 2022. She worked as a forensic scientist for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for nearly a decade and served as a union leader for the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees. She also works as a legislative and policy analyst for the state Department of Human Services.
Dorau is a 26-year retired Air Force colonel who served in Afghanistan and currently teaches in the Junior ROTC program at Johnson High School in St. Paul.
In safely red District 29, which covers Buffalo, Monticello and Annandale, Michael Holmstrom Jr. prevailed in a three-way Republican primary against Bradley Kurtz and Rachel Davis, winning 73% of the 2,848 ballots cast. He will face Democrat Louis McNutt, who ran unopposed, in November.