2000 United States Senate election in Minnesota

The 2000 United States Senate election in Minnesota was held on November 7, 2000, to select a U.S. senator from the state of Minnesota. The race pitted incumbent Republican Senator Rod Grams against former Minnesota State Auditor Mark Dayton. Dayton won with 48.83% of the vote to Grams's 43.29%. Dayton declined to run for reelection in 2006 and ran successfully in 2010 and 2014 for governor of Minnesota. He was succeeded in the Senate by Amy Klobuchar, who has held the seat ever since. Upon Dayton's swearing in, Democrats held both of Minnesota's U.S. Senate seats for the first time since 1978. As of 2024, this is the last time that a man won the Class 1 Senate seat in Minnesota.

DFL primary

 * Mark Dayton, former Minnesota State Auditor and unsuccessful 1982 nominee for this seat
 * Michael V. Ciresi, attorney
 * Jerry Janezich, state senator
 * Rebecca Yanisch
 * Richard "Dick" Franson, city councilman
 * Oloveuse S. "Ole" Savior, artist and perennial candidate.
 * Gregg A. Iverson

Candidate

 * Rod Grams, incumbent U.S. Senator
 * William Paul "Bill" Dahn

Candidates

 * Mark Dayton (DFL), former State Auditor and former candidate for this seat in 1982
 * Rod Grams (R), incumbent U.S. Senator

Debates
Dayton and Grams had three debates, one on October 18, one on October 26, and one on November 3.

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

 * Aitkin (largest city: Aitkin)
 * Big Stone (largest city: Ortonville)
 * Grant (largest city: Elbow Lake)
 * Lincoln (largest city: Tyler)
 * Marshall (largest city: Warren)
 * Pennington (largest city: Thief River Falls)
 * Pine (largest city: Pine City)
 * Polk (largest city: East Grand Forks)
 * Pope (largest city: Glenwood)
 * Red Lake (largest city: Red Lake Falls)
 * Yellow Medicine (largest city: Granite Falls)
 * Beltrami (largest city: Bemidji)
 * Blue Earth (largest city: Mankato)
 * Chippewa (largest city: Montevideo)
 * Clay (largest city: Moorhead)
 * Fillmore (largest city: Spring Valley)
 * Freeborn (largest city: Albert Lea)
 * Itasca (largest city: Grand Rapids)
 * Koochiching (largest city: International Falls)
 * Lac qui Parle (largest city: Madison)
 * Mahnomen (largest city: Mahnomen)
 * Nicollet (largest city: North Mankato)
 * Rice (largest city: Faribault)
 * Swift (largest city: Benson)
 * Traverse (largest city: Wheaton)
 * Winona (largest city: Winona)
 * Kandiyohi (Largest city: Willmar)
 * Jackson (Largest city: Jackson)
 * Renville (Largest city: Olivia)