2013 Minnesota House of Representatives District 14A special election

A special election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on February 12, 2013, to elect a new representative for District 14A in the Minnesota House of Representatives, caused by the resignation of Representative Steve Gottwalt on January 7, 2013. A primary election was not held. The election coincided with the District 19A special election. Tama Theis, the Republican Party of Minnesota nominee, won the special election.

District 14A special election, 2013

← 2012 February 12, 2013 (2013-02-12) 2014 →

The District 14A seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives
 
Nominee Tama Theis Joanne Dorsher
Party Republican Democratic (DFL)
Popular vote 2,670 2,091
Percentage 54.51% 42.69%

Precinct Results

Theis:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

Dorsher:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%

Representative before election

Steve Gottwalt
Republican

Elected Representative

Tama Theis
Republican

Background

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On January 3, 2013, Representative Steve Gottwalt announced that he would resign to take a job as the director of state legislative policy for the Center for Diagnostic Imaging.[1] He resigned on January 7, 2013, the day before the beginning of the new session of the Minnesota Legislature.[2]

Candidates

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Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party

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Nominee

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  • Joanne Dorsher (party endorsed), former St. Cloud school board member[3][4]

Declined

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Republican Party of Minnesota

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Nominee

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Withdrawn

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  • Scott Mac Hardy, Iraq War veteran[4][6]
  • James Parmele[7]
  • John Severson, former St. Cloud city council member[4][6]

Independence Party of Minnesota

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Nominee

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  • Todd McKee, small business owner; part-time truck driver[8]

Results

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Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % ∆pp
District 14A special election, 2013[9]
Resignation of Steve Gottwalt
Voters: 4,898 (−74.29%)
Republican hold
Plurality: 579 (11.82 pp) +3.72
Tama Theis Republican 2,670 54.51 −5.39
Joanne Dorsher DFL 2,091 42.69 −3.11
Todd McKee Independence 130 2.65 N/A
Write-in N/A 7 0.14 −0.15

Previous election results

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Election Political result Candidate Party Votes %
Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2012[10]
Redrawn district
Voters: 19,051
Republican win
Plurality: 1,543 (8.10 pp)
Steve Gottwalt Republican 10,269 53.90
Anne Nolan DFL 8,726 45.80
Write-in N/A 56 0.29

References

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  1. ^ Brooks, Jennifer (January 3, 2013). "New job leads State Rep. Gottwalt to abruptly quit". Star Tribune. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  2. ^ Stassen-Berger, Rachel E. (January 7, 2013). "DFL Rep. Morrow and GOP Rep. Gottwalt resign, let the special elections begin". Star Tribune. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  3. ^ Kimball, Joe (January 21, 2013). "DFLers endorse candidates for special elections in House Districts 14A, 19A". MinnPost. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e Kimball, Joe (January 8, 2013). "Candidates line up for Gottwalt's state House seat in St. Cloud". MinnPost. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  5. ^ Sommerhauser, Mark (January 10, 2013). "DFL settles it: Dorsher will run for Gottwalt seat". St. Cloud Times. Retrieved February 10, 2013.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ a b c Kimball, Joe (January 14, 2013). "Tama Theis gets GOP endorsement for special election in House District 14A". MinnPost. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  7. ^ Sommerhauser, Mark (January 12, 2013). "GOP candidate Theis cast as business champion, social conservative". St. Cloud Times. Retrieved February 10, 2013.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ Kimball, Joe (January 16, 2013). "Candidates set for state House special election in St. Cloud area". MinnPost. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  9. ^ "Results for State Representative District 14A". Minnesota Secretary of State. Archived from the original on February 25, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  10. ^ "Results for State Representative District 14A". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
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Official campaign websites