Bloomington's 2026 election guide: every race on your ballot
TLDR: Bloomington votes Tuesday, Nov. 3, for governor, U.S. Senate, Congress, the Legislature, county offices and a school-funding amendment.
- Election DayTuesday, November 3: polls are open 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM, and if you're in line by 8:00 PM, you can vote.
- Vote earlyThrough Monday, November 2: at Civic Plaza on weekdays 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, plus October 24, 31 and November 1 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
- Not registered?Register when you vote: bring a Minnesota ID with your address, or a photo ID and a bill.
- Mail ballotMust arrive by November 3: 8:00 PM by mail or 5:00 PM in person, signed by a witness.
- ResultsElection night, from 8:00 PM: Bloomington's results for every race, as the state counts
Bloomington has 30 precincts, each with its own polling place. Put in your address to find yours, and which of the city's three ballots you'll get.
Here's every race on a Bloomington ballot. Everyone votes on the same races for Congress, governor, the county and the judges; your state Senate and House seats depend on where you live. Tap any race for the candidates and where they stand.
U.S. Senate (MN)
The role: A U.S. senator is one of Minnesota's two members of the Senate in Washington. Bloomington voters choose this seat together with the rest of Minnesota; it is open because Sen. Tina Smith is not running again. In 2020, Tina Smith (DFL) beat Jason Lewis (R), 48.7% to 43.5%. Full preview.
Marisa SimonettiIndependent- CEO; real estate businesswoman
- Bachelor's degree in psychology, University of Minnesota marisasimonetti.com
- Works in real estate; describes herself as a CEO who "builds statewide business assets" kaxe.org
Rebecca WhitingLibertarian- Chair, Libertarian Party of Minnesota
- Farmer; owner of Dirty Goat Farm & Bakery
- U.S. Army, 2004–2007; combat medic on two Iraq tours (Ramadi 2004–05, Baghdad 2006–07) whiting4senate.us
- Born in Picayune, Mississippi; bachelor's degree, American Military University (2010) ballotpedia.org
Peggy FlanaganDemocratic-Farmer-Labor- Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota (since 2019)
- Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
- Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, 2019–present; Minnesota House of Representatives, District 46A, 2015–2019 ballotpedia.org
- Bachelor's degree in American Indian studies and child psychology, University of Minnesota (2002) ballotpedia.org
Michele TafoyaRepublican- Former sports broadcaster; podcast host
- NFL sideline reporter for NBC Sunday Night Football; covered 327 NFL games and five Super Bowls; retired after Super Bowl LVI (Feb. 13, 2022); four Sports Emmy Awards micheletafoya.com
- Earlier career at CBS Sports (1994–1999) and ESPN/ABC (2000–2011) en.wikipedia.org
U.S. House Minnesota District 3
The role: The U.S. representative is one of 435 members of the U.S. House. Bloomington is entirely inside the 3rd District, so this is the person who represents the whole city in Congress. In 2024, Kelly Morrison (DFL) beat Tad Jude (R), 58.43% to 41.45%. Full preview.
- General contractor; owner of Cities Exteriors
- Grew up in Blooming Prairie; graduated from Blooming Prairie High School ballotpedia.org
- Luther College, B.A. in exercise science, 2010; played football there bassforcongress.com
- U.S. Representative, Minnesota 3rd District (since Jan. 3, 2025)
- U.S. Representative; physician (OB-GYN)
- Born in Minneapolis in 1969; bachelor's degree in history from Yale University; M.D. from Case Western Reserve University; residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University ballotpedia.org
- OB-GYN in Minnesota for more than 20 years kellyforcongress.org
Minnesota Senate, District 50
The role: State senators are half of the Minnesota Legislature. Senate District 50 covers about the western half of Bloomington along with a large part of Edina. In 2022, Alice Mann (DFL) beat Doug Fulton (R), 63.42% to 36.53%. Full preview.
- Computer programmer; former owner of GopherData, Inc.
- Owned GopherData, Inc. for 18 years; more than 30 years of information-management experience (per campaign) owen4senate.com
- Edina School Board, 2018–2021: Policy Committee chair; founded the Legislative Action Committee hometownsource.com
- Former KARE 11 journalist; founder of So Many Goodbyes (dementia education) and host of the "Hello Alzheimer's" podcast
- Longtime journalist; her campaign says she worked in eight newsrooms around the country and won Emmy, Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite awards karlahultforsenate.com
- KARE 11 journalist when she launched her campaign on social media on Jan. 30, 2026 hometownsource.com
Minnesota Senate, District 51
The role: The Minnesota Senate has 67 members. Bloomington needs the Legislature's approval for some local decisions: in 2022, Sen. Wiklund's bill S.F. 3393 to authorize a Bloomington local sales tax was heard in the Senate Taxes Committee, with Bloomington's mayor and city manager testifying. In 2022, Melissa Halvorson Wiklund (DFL) beat Frank Pafko (R), 69.64% to 30.24%. Full preview.
- Retired
- Lifelong Minnesotan; lived in Sweden for six years, where she worked and learned the language youtube.com
- Bloomington resident for more than 30 years (first as a renter, now a homeowner on the east side) youtube.com
- Attorney and partner at Trautmann Martin Law PLLC; former Richfield City Council member (2018–2024)
- Attorney
- Born in Bloomington; attended Bloomington and Richfield public schools; his mother ran a small business on Old Shakopee Road simonfor51.com
- Richfield City Council member, 2018–2024 trautlaw.com
Minnesota House, District 50A
The role: State representatives make up the larger half of the Minnesota Legislature. District 50A is mostly an Edina district, but voters in two Bloomington precincts along the Edina border help choose its representative. In 2024, Julie Greene (DFL) beat Owen Michaelson (R), 64.57% to 35.28%. Full preview.
- Human resources and talent acquisition executive
- More than two decades in human resources and talent acquisition across health care, technology, retail, financial services and real estate (per campaign) wedum4mn.com
- Has advised organizations including UnitedHealth Group, Allianz, Ameriprise Financial and Korn Ferry (per campaign) wedum4mn.com
- State Representative, District 50A (since January 2025); Assistant DFL Floor Leader
- Communications / marketing
- State Representative, District 50A, elected 2024; Assistant DFL Floor Leader house.mn.gov
- Edina School Board, 2020–2024 (vice chair; chaired the Policy and Legislative Action committees) greeneforminnesota.com
Minnesota House, District 50B
The role: State representatives make up the larger half of the Minnesota Legislature. District 50B is entirely in Bloomington, so this representative speaks only for western Bloomington residents at the Capitol. In 2024, Steve Elkins (DFL) beat Bob Gust (R), 63.18% to 36.69%. Full preview.
Steve ElkinsDemocratic-Farmer-Labor, incumbent- State Representative, District 50B (in the House since 2019; 4th term)
- Information technology (data architect); economist by training
- State Representative since 2019 (first elected 2018; now in 4th term) house.mn.gov
- Former Bloomington City Council member (first elected 2001; nine years), Planning Commissioner and Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) Commissioner; eight years on the Metropolitan Council elkinsforhouse.com
Minnesota House, District 51B
The role: The Minnesota House has 134 members, each elected every two years. This seat is entirely within Bloomington. In his May 2026 legislative update, Rep. Coulter reported that the state infrastructure bill included $4 million for the Bloomington North Central Sanitary Sewer. In 2024, Nathan Coulter (DFL) beat Lion Dale Johnson (R), 64.08% to 35.67%. Full preview.
- President emeritus, Twin Cities Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
- President emeritus of the Twin Cities Chapter of Certified Fraud Examiners youtube.com
- Chapter president of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners' Twin Cities Chapter (2022) acfechapternews.com
- State Representative, House District 51B (since 2023); Assistant DFL Floor Leader
- Minnesota House, District 51B, 2023–present; Assistant DFL Floor Leader (2025–26) lrl.mn.gov
- Committees (2025–26): Higher Education Finance and Policy (co-vice chair); Rules and Legislative Administration; Children and Families Finance and Policy; Elections Finance and Government Operations house.mn.gov
Governor and Lieutenant Governor
The role: The governor is Minnesota's chief executive: they run the state agencies, "take care that the laws be faithfully executed," command the National Guard, and sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature. The governor sets the state budget and signs or vetoes the laws that apply in Bloomington, as everywhere in Minnesota. In 2022, Tim Walz and Peggy Flanagan (DFL) beat Scott Jensen and Matt Birk (R), 52.3% to 44.6%. Full preview.
Amy Klobuchar and Ben SchiererDemocratic-Farmer-Labor- U.S. Senator from Minnesota (since 2007)
- U.S. Senator
- U.S. Senator from Minnesota since Jan. 3, 2007; current Senate term runs to 2031 ballotpedia.org
- First woman elected to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate klobuchar.senate.gov
Lisa Demuth and Ryan WilsonRepublican- Speaker of the Minnesota House; state representative, District 13A
- Business owner; Speaker of the Minnesota House
- Graduated from Bloomington Kennedy High School (1985) minnpost.com
- ROCORI School Board, 11 years (first elected 2007) minnpost.com
Minnesota Secretary of State
The role: The Secretary of State is Minnesota's chief election official: the office oversees how elections are run statewide, keeps the statewide voter registration system, and supports the local officials who run elections. Bloomington voters use the Secretary of State's systems directly: the city's voting page sends residents to mnvotes.gov (the Secretary of State's site) to register, check registration, see a sample ballot and find their polling place. In 2022, Steve Simon (DFL) beat Kim Crockett (R), 54.5% to 45.4%. Full preview.
Steve SimonDemocratic-Farmer-Labor, incumbent- Minnesota Secretary of State (since January 2015)
- Minnesota Secretary of State
- Minnesota House of Representatives, 2005–2014 (Districts 44A and 46B, Hennepin County); Assistant Majority Leader 2007–2009; chaired the House Elections Committee in his final term lrl.mn.gov
- Former Assistant Attorney General under Skip Humphrey and Mike Hatch; business-law attorney at Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi lrl.mn.gov
Seth Kuhl-StennesGreen- Co-chair, Green Party of Minnesota
- Operations specialist, Land Stewardship Project
- Born and raised in Baudette; political science degree from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University; lives in South Minneapolis with his wife and child gp.org
- Operations specialist at the Land Stewardship Project since May 2024; member of OPEIU Local 12 gp.org
Tad JudeRepublican- Attorney, self-employed
- Minnesota House, 1973–1982 (District 42A), and Minnesota Senate, 1983–1988 (District 48), first elected with the DFL caucus; became an Independent-Republican in 1992 lrl.mn.gov
- Hennepin County Commissioner beginning 1989 lrl.mn.gov
Minnesota State Auditor
The role: The State Auditor is Minnesota's watchdog for local government money. The City of Bloomington's 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report says the city's tax increment financing (TIF) districts are "subject to review by the Minnesota Office of the State Auditor," and that the city follows financial reporting standards set by that office, among others. In 2022, Julie Blaha (DFL) beat Ryan Wilson (R), 47.5% to 47.1%. Full preview.
Scott JensenRepublican- Family physician; founder of Catalyst Medical Clinic
- Minnesota Senate, District 47 (Jan. 2017–Jan. 2021); did not seek re-election in 2020 lrl.mn.gov
- Republican nominee for governor, 2022 (lost to Tim Walz) mprnews.org
Zack FilipovichDemocratic-Farmer-Labor- Finance manager at Northspan, a regional economic development nonprofit; Certified Management Accountant
- Duluth City Council, at-large, two four-year terms (first elected 2013) duluthnewstribune.com
- Former Duluth City Council president dfl.org
Minnesota Attorney General
The role: The attorney general is Minnesota's top lawyer. Every Bloomington voter has this race on the ballot. In the Aug. 11 primary, Bloomington voters helped choose the nominees, and the Sun Current reported that incumbent Keith Ellison advanced easily and will face Republican Ronald Schutz in November. In 2022, Keith Ellison (DFL) beat Jim Schultz (R), 50.4% to 49.5%. Full preview.
- Minnesota Attorney General (since January 2019)
- Attorney General
- Minnesota Attorney General since Jan. 7, 2019 (30th AG) ag.state.mn.us
- U.S. Representative, Minnesota's 5th District, 2007–2019; served 12 years on the House Financial Services Committee ag.state.mn.us
- Lawyer (Schutz PLLC); former chairman of Robins Kaplan LLP
- Grew up on a dairy farm near Adrian, Minn. marshallindependent.com
- B.S. in mechanical engineering, Marquette University (Army ROTC scholarship); law degree with honors, University of Minnesota Law School ronformnag.com
Constitutional Amendment 1: School funding
The question: Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to increase the funding going to all school districts from the permanent school fund, which is a fund that supports school districts without raising individual income or property taxes, effective July 1, 2027? Full preview.
Hennepin County Sheriff
The role: The sheriff runs the county jail in downtown Minneapolis, where adults accused of crimes are held before trial, provides security for the county's district courts, and transports people in court custody. Bloomington has its own police department and its own police dispatchers, so the sheriff does not patrol Bloomington streets. In 2022, Dawanna Witt beat Joseph Banks, 63.99% to 35.37%. Full preview.
- Hennepin County Sheriff (since January 2023)
- Hennepin County Sheriff
- Hired as a Hennepin County detention deputy in 2000 hennepinsheriff.org
- Dakota County Sheriff's Office, 2004–2019: bailiff, school resource officer, detective, crisis negotiator; first woman in that agency to reach captain hennepinsheriff.org
- Law enforcement officer (former police chief)
- Lower Sioux Police Department from 2005; later chief investigator and acting police chief there hometownsource.com
- Former police chief, Upper Sioux Police Department and city of Morton eplocalnews.org
Hennepin County Attorney
The role: The County Attorney is the chief prosecutor for Hennepin County: the office decides whether to charge and then prosecutes adult felonies and all juvenile cases that police agencies in the county bring to it. Every felony arrest by Bloomington police goes to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office for a charging decision; Bloomington's own city attorney prosecutes only non-felony adult cases. In 2022, Mary Moriarty beat Martha Holton Dimick, 57.6% to 41.8%. Full preview.
- Minnesota state representative, District 43A (DFL); co-chair of the House Ways and Means Committee
- Attorney (labor attorney for Education Minnesota, per Sahan Journal)
- Minnesota House, District 45A (2021–2022) and District 43A (2023–present), DFL lrl.mn.gov
- Co-chair, House Ways and Means Committee (94th Session, as of October 2025) lrl.mn.gov
- Partner, Jones Day law firm (per Minnesota Lawyer)
- Attorney
- Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota (2021); left to join the Office of the Deputy Attorney General in Washington, D.C. kstp.com
- Served as First Assistant U.S. Attorney before becoming acting U.S. Attorney; earlier spent seven years in corporate law at Stinson Leonard Street spokesman-recorder.com
Three Rivers Park District, Commissioner District 5
The role: Three Rivers Park District runs regional parks, park reserves and trails in the west metro, paid for mainly by a property tax on suburban Hennepin County. Three Rivers owns Hyland Lake Park Reserve in Bloomington, part of the 2,565-acre Hyland-Bush-Anderson Lakes park reserve system, which includes Hyland Hills Ski Area, Richardson Nature Center, the Bush Lake beach, a large play area and miles of biking, hiking and cross-country ski trails. In 2022, John F. Gibbs won unopposed. Full preview.
- Three Rivers Park District commissioner, District 5 (on the board since 2011; board chair since 2023)
- Retired attorney and business executive
- Three Rivers Park District board since 2011; board chair since 2023; re-elected in 2022 threeriversparks.org
- Retired senior vice president, Comcast; former partner, Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi threeriversparks.org
- Senior marketing manager, Xcel Energy
- Senior marketing manager, Xcel Energy; B.A., University of St. Thomas hometownsource.com
- Three Rivers Park District volunteer; Bloomington Athletic Association multisport youth coach; Bloomington resident for 13 years hometownsource.com
Judges: Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and 4th District
The role: Minnesota judges serve six-year terms and are chosen by voters in the area they serve (Minnesota Constitution, Article VI, Section 7). Fourth District judges hear Hennepin County's cases, including those from Bloomington: criminal cases, lawsuits, family court and housing court. Full preview.
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