2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota

The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the eight U.S. representatives from the state of Minnesota, one from each of the state's eight congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on August 9.

This is the last cycle where the Democrat candidate would win either the 1st or 8th district and the last cycle Republicans candidate would win either the 2nd or 3rd district.

District
Results of the 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota by district:

District 1
Incumbent Democrat Tim Walz, who had represented the district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 54% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+1.

Nominee

 * Tim Walz, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Jim Hagedorn, blogger, candidate for this seat in 2010 and nominee in 2014

Eliminated in primary

 * Steve Williams

District 2
Incumbent Republican John Kline, who had represented the district since 2003, announced that he would not seek re-election. He was re-elected with 56% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+2.

Nominee

 * Jason Lewis, political commentator, former talk radio host, and nominee for Colorado's 2nd district in 1990

Eliminated in primary

 * Matthew Erickson, Minnesota spokesperson for Donald Trump
 * John Howe, former state senator, former mayor of Red Wing and candidate for Minnesota Secretary of State in 2014
 * Darlene Miller, president and CEO of Permac Industries and member of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

Withdrawn

 * David Benson-Staebler, political consultant, former Democratic congressional aide, and real estate agent
 * David Gerson, engineer and candidate in 2012 and 2014
 * Pam Myhra, former state representative and candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014

Declined

 * Tony Albright, state representative
 * Ted Daley, former state senator
 * Steve Drazkowski, state representative
 * Pat Garofalo, state representative
 * John Kline, incumbent U.S. Representative
 * John Kriesel, former state representative
 * Mike McFadden, businessman and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2014
 * Mary Pawlenty, former Dakota County District Court Judge and former First Lady of Minnesota
 * Roz Peterson, state representative
 * Eric Pratt, state senator
 * Steve Sviggum, former Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives
 * Dave Thompson, state senator and candidate for governor in 2014

Democratic primary
Democrat Angela Craig, who served as vice president of global human resources for St. Jude Medical, resigned from her position in January 2015 to challenge Lewis. Mary Lawrence, a doctor, also ran as a Democrat, but dropped out before the primary.

Nominee

 * Angie Craig, former St. Jude Medical executive

Withdrawn

 * Roger Kittelson, dairy marketing specialist, nominee for WI-06 in 2008 and candidate for Minnesota House of Representatives in 1982 and 2014
 * Mary Lawrence, ophthalmologist

Declined

 * Joe Atkins, state representative
 * Rick Hansen, state representative
 * Mike Obermueller, former state representative and nominee in 2012 and 2014

Nominee

 * Paula Overby, quality assurance analyst and nominee for this seat in 2014

Campaign
Commentators wrote that the election was "likely to be one of the most-watched congressional races in the country," (MinnPost ), "expected to be one of the most competitive in the country", according to Roll Call newspaper, and "seen as a prime target for Democrats to flip" according to The Atlantic.

Area left-wing weekly City Pages described the campaign as resembling the 2016 presidential campaign, calling Lewis "an entrepreneur and media personality, whose blunt rhetoric is refreshingly honest to some, simply offensive to others",  and describing Craig as "a tough female leader with moderate positions, ties to big business, and a penchant for pantsuits".

In May 2016, the Rothenberg and Gonzales Political Report changed its rating of the race from "pure tossup" to "tossup/tilt Democratic," with political analyst Nathan Gonzales writing that Craig "is probably to the left of the district in her ideology, but she has a good story to tell, is raising considerable money (she had $1.3 million in the bank at the end of March) and is solid as a candidate." Other political prognosticators rated the race "Republican Toss-up" (Charlie Cook), and "pure" toss-up (Larry Sabato's "Crystal Ball"), according to MinnPost.

Debates

 * Complete video of debate, October 30, 2016

Results
Lewis ended up defeating Craig by several thousand votes.

District 3
Incumbent Republican Erik Paulsen, who had represented the district since 2009, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 62% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+2.

Nominee

 * Erik Paulsen, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Terri Bonoff, state senator

Withdrawn

 * Jon Tollefson, former U.S. diplomat, lobbyist for the Minnesota Nurses Association and candidate for state representative in 2014

Debates

 * Complete video of debate, October 30, 2016

District 4
Incumbent Democrat Betty McCollum, who had represented the district since 2001, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 61% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+11.

Nominee

 * Betty McCollum, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Steve Carlson

Nominee

 * Greg Ryan, businessman

Eliminated in primary

 * Gene Rechtzigel
 * Nikolay Nikolayevich Bey

District 5
Incumbent Democrat Keith Ellison, who had represented the district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 71% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+71.

Nominee

 * Keith Ellison, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Lee Bauer
 * Gregg Iverson, perennial candidate

Nominee

 * Frank Nelson Drake, real estate investor

Nominee

 * Dennis Schuller

District 6
Incumbent Republican Tom Emmer, who had represented the district since 2015, ran for re-election. He was elected with 56% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+10.

Nominee

 * Tom Emmer, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * A.J. Kern
 * Patrick Munro

Nominee

 * David Snyder, Army veteran

Eliminated in primary

 * Judy Evelyn Adams
 * Bob Helland, business process analyst and Independence nominee for secretary of state in 2014

District 7
Incumbent Democrat Collin Peterson, who had represented the district since 1991, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 54% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+6.

Nominee

 * Collin Peterson, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Dave Hughes, U.S. Air Force veteran

Eliminated in primary

 * Amanda Lynn Hinson, entrepreneur, writer, and former pastor

District 8
Incumbent Democrat Rick Nolan, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 49% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+1.

Nominee

 * Rick Nolan, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Stewart Mills III, Mills Fleet Farm executive and nominee for this seat in 2014

Results
Though Nolan's margin of victory (2,009 votes) was too large to trigger a publicly funded automatic recount, Mills, as of late November 2016, said that he planned to request and pay for a hand recount of all votes cast in the eighth district, as is his right under law. Mills planned to cover the cost of the recount—just over $100,000— himself. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota had not seen a recount in a race for the House of Representatives since 2000, when election day totals in Minnesota's 2nd congressional district fell within the half percentage point threshold, thus triggering a state-funded recount. It is not known if Mills's request for a privately funded recount has precedent in Minnesota's electoral history, at least as it pertains to elections for the House of Representatives.