Outside money pours into suburban and Greater Minnesota House and Senate races, including St. Cloud and Rochester 

A Republican is trying to hold a key legislative district for his party against a Rochester teacher turned Democratic candidate.

Sounds like the 1st Congressional District race between U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad and Jake Johnson, right? Yes, but it also applies to a battleground state Senate race.

Like Finstad, Nels Pierson is a former Republican state representative who grew up in farm country. Like Johnson, Simon Glaser is a public schoolteacher making his inaugural run for public office.

One of the two will replace Carla Nelson in Senate District 24, after the longtime Republican senator’s retirement this year. Her departure creates a rare opportunity for the DFL to flip a seat in Greater Minnesota, while Republicans can ill afford to lose it and still win control of the Senate.

With those dynamics in play, it’s no wonder why special interest groups are pouring money into Rochester and surrounding rural areas. It has become one of the most expensive state legislative races in Minnesota this year, according to a MinnPost analysis of Minnesota Campaign Finance Board independent spending reports. 

Million dollar Senate races, from Northfield to the North Shore

Nine Minnesota Senate races drew more than $1 million in independent expenditures this year, led by a whopping $3.5 million in DFL Sen. Aric Putnam’s race against Republican Bernie Perryman. The rest of the $1 million club includes races in Moorhead, northeast Minnesota, Northfield and five suburban districts.

Glaser and Pierson’s race in District 24 didn’t top $1 million, but it was in the next grouping topping at least $600,000 in outside spending.

Purely based on results in the last election, District 24 might appear to be an odd fit on this list. Nelson won by 15% in 2022, the first election after redistricting matched parts of Rochester with the more rural parts of Olmsted County and Dodge County.

A question to be answered on Election Day is whether the district remains Republican-leaning in a popular politician’s absence. Glaser believes Nelson outperformed for a Republican in Rochester, and there’s discontent among rural voters at federal policies.

“We’re talking to Democrats and Republicans and independents, and what we’re finding is that everyone’s pretty unhappy about the same things, and that is that we cannot afford our lives.” 

He bills himself as the political outsider in the race. Pierson, who didn’t respond to a MinnPost request for an interview, previously served in the state House and ran for U.S. Congress in 2022. 

Glaser came to politics as a teachers union leader. In that capacity, he and Jake Johnson closely worked together on a successful school referendum vote in Rochester in 2024.

Related: How a rural northeast Minnesota district could shape control of the state Senate

Both candidates in District 24 are running on affordability to an extent. Pierson leads with fraud on his website, while Glaser sees it as an important yet separate issue.

He talks about the necessity of childcare funding, plus a very fitting issue for Rochester coming up at the doors most: health care. In Mayo Clinic’s neck of the woods, city residents and rural farmers alike are dealing with higher costs and diminishing insurance options. 

Expanding MinnesotaCare would be a start to addressing their needs, Glaser said.

Winona among most expensive Minnesota House races 

While the state House doesn’t generate as much outside spending as the Senate, a mix of key suburban and Greater Minnesota races topped $200,000 this year. 

From outside groups and prominent campaigns, Winona is receiving much attention leading up to Election Day. U.S. Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan is visiting the Island City as part of her get-out-the-vote tour. Jake Johnson canvassed there Thursday as he makes his final pitch to voters in his Congressional race. 

The city’s density and colleges may give Democrats a shot to retake the district from Repinski, who won by nearly 6% in 2024. In an interview with MinnPost in July, Wilson brought up an irony about that race.

He led a nonpartisan get-out-the-vote push in Winona, which he suspects turned out some Republicans who wouldn’t cast a ballot otherwise. Voting was the point, though, so he has no regrets. He just hopes people turn out for him this time. 

Repinski, who won in 2024 after longtime DFL Rep. Gene Pelowski Jr. retired, has one of the most interesting jobs among state lawmakers. He runs a tour boat company. 

The top issues on his website are cutting waste and fraud, fitting for a Republican this year. Next up is economic development, fitting for a small business owner.

Related: A Northfield farmer hopes to add a rare rural voice to the Minnesota Senate’s DFL caucus

Wilson used to run an emergency homeless shelter and is now a grazing cattle farmer in rural Winona County. He leads with affordability in his campaign, saying Winona has a housing crisis and needs to build in order to lower cost burdens.

He’s one of several farmers running on the DFL ticket this year. The party needs to redefine what it means to be a Democrat in Greater Minnesota, he said.

“In this county, that means creating more housing, creating more childcare, but also cheaper groceries and cheaper insurance,” he said.

To do so, the party may have to look back in its own history, he added, but also take a page from states where red tape isn’t as much of a barrier for building. 

“For more housing and more childcare, that probably means embracing policies that come from more conservative states like Texas and Florida,” he said. “But then, for cheaper groceries and cheaper insurance, that probably means embracing policies from the farm-labor movement in the 30s and 40s, right? Like breaking up monopolies, going after corporate greed, stopping price gouging, injecting competition into the grocery and insurance market to make sure that we’re lowering costs for consumers.” 

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