2014 United States Senate election in Minnesota

The 2014 United States Senate election in Minnesota was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Minnesota, concurrently with the election of the Governor of Minnesota, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

Incumbent Democratic–Farmer–Labor Senator Al Franken ran for re-election to a second term. Primary elections were held on August 12, 2014, in which Franken was renominated and the Republicans picked financial executive Mike McFadden. In the general election, Franken defeated him and Independence Party nominee Steve Carlson and Heather Johnson of the Libertarian Party with 53% of the vote. As of 2024, this is the last time that a male candidate won a U.S. Senate election in Minnesota. This is also the last time that the winner of Minnesota's Class 2 Senate seat won a majority of Minnesota's counties.

Background
Franken challenged incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman in 2008. When the initial count was completed on November 18, Franken was trailing Coleman by 215 votes. This close margin triggered a mandatory recount. After reviewing ballots that had been challenged during the recount and counting 953 wrongly rejected absentee ballots, the State Canvassing Board officially certified the recount results with Franken holding a 225-vote lead.

On January 6, 2009, Coleman's campaign filed an election contest and on April 13, a three-judge panel dismissed Coleman's Notice of Contest and ruled that Franken had won the election by 312 votes. Coleman's appeal of the panel's decision to the Minnesota Supreme Court was unanimously rejected on June 30, and he conceded the election. Franken was sworn in as Minnesota's junior senator on July 7, 2009.

Because Franken's margin of victory was so slim, the seat was initially thought to be a top target for Republicans, but Politico reported in a May 2013 article that Franken's high approval rating, his large war chest, and the Republicans' struggle to find a top-tier candidate meant that Franken was the "heavy favorite" in the 2014 election.

Declared

 * Al Franken, incumbent U.S. Senator
 * Sandra Henningsgard

Republican primary
At the Republican State Convention on May 30–31, 2014, after ten ballots, Mike McFadden received the party's endorsement. Chris Dahlberg, Monti Moreno, Julianne Ortman and Phillip Parrish had all sought the endorsement but withdrew in favor of McFadden. Only Jim Abeler continued in the race and contested the August primary against McFadden. David Carlson did not participate in the convention after a dispute with party leadership over nominating petitions. He, Patrick D. Munro and Ole Savior also appeared on the ballot.

Declared

 * Jim Abeler, state representative
 * David Carlson, veteran and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012
 * Mike McFadden, financial executive
 * Patrick D. Munro
 * Ole Savior, perennial candidate

Withdrew

 * Chris Dahlberg, St. Louis County commissioner
 * Monti Moreno, bison farmer, former hair salon owner and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1996
 * Julianne Ortman, state senator
 * Phillip Parrish, U.S. Navy reservist
 * Harold Shudlick, retired U.S. Army chaplain and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2006 and 2012

Declined

 * Michele Bachmann, U.S. Representative
 * Laura Brod, former state representative
 * Norm Coleman, former U.S. Senator
 * Chip Cravaack, former U.S. Representative
 * Bill Guidera, finance chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota
 * Pete Hegseth, CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, former executive director of Vets For Freedom and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012
 * John Kline, U.S. Representative
 * Jason Lewis, radio talk show host and political commentator
 * Erik Paulsen, U.S. Representative
 * Tim Pawlenty, former governor of Minnesota
 * Rich Stanek, Hennepin County Sheriff

Polling

 * Republican primary

Independence primary
The Independence Party of Minnesota state convention was held on May 17, 2014, at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Businessman Kevin Terrell won the party's endorsement, but lost the primary to Steve Carlson. Carlson did not ask for an endorsement from the Independence Party and self-identifies with the Tea party. For their part, the Independence Party has disowned Carlson, who has defended Todd Akin's controversial "legitimate rape" comments and said that George Zimmerman "provided a valuable service" by killing Trayvon Martin.

Declared

 * Jack Shepard, dentist, convicted felon, fugitive and perennial candidate
 * Kevin Terrell, business consultant

Withdrew

 * Hannah Nicollet (running for governor)

Libertarian convention
The Libertarian Party of Minnesota state convention was held on April 26, 2014, in Maple Grove.

Nominee

 * Heather Johnson

Debates

 * Complete video of debate, October 1, 2014
 * Complete video of debate, October 26, 2014

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

 * Lincoln (largest municipality: Tyler)
 * Fillmore (largest city: Spring Valley)
 * Grant (Largest city: Elbow Lake)
 * Houston (Largest city: La Crescent)
 * Kanabec (Largest city: Mora)
 * Kandiyohi (Largest city: Willmar)
 * Le Sueur (Largest city: Le Sueur)
 * Marshall (Largest city: Warren)
 * Mille Lacs (Largest city: Princeton)
 * Pennington (Largest city: Thief River Falls)
 * Polk (Largest city: East Grand Forks)
 * Pope (Largest city: Glenwood)
 * Red Lake (Largest city: Red Lake Falls)
 * Renville (Largest city: Olivia)
 * Stevens (Largest city: Morris)
 * Traverse (Largest city: Wheaton)
 * Wabasha (Largest city: Lake City)
 * Waseca (Largest city: Waseca)
 * Watonwan (Largest city: St. James)
 * Yellow Medicine (Largest city: Granite Falls)
 * Clay (largest city: Moorhead)
 * Dakota (largest city: Hastings)
 * Olmsted (largest city: Rochester)
 * Washington (largest city: Stillwater)