Steve Simon
TLDR: Steve Simon has been Minnesota's Secretary of State since January 2015 and is seeking a fourth term. Before that he served ten years in the Minnesota House representing St. Louis Park and Hopkins-area districts, where he chaired the Elections Committee in his final term. He is an attorney who worked in business law and served as an assistant attorney general. He says his priorities are keeping elections "fair, accurate, honest, and secure," protecting voter privacy, and resisting what he calls federal interference in Minnesota's elections.
Steve SimonDemocratic-Farmer-Labor, incumbent- Running for
- Minnesota Secretary of State
- Now
- Minnesota Secretary of State (since January 2015)
- Work
- Minnesota Secretary of State
- Lives in
- Hopkins
- Background
- 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
- B.A. in political science, Tufts University; J.D., University of Minnesota Law School (1996); Hopkins High School graduate lrl.mn.gov
- Elected Secretary of State in 2014 and re-elected in 2018 and 2022 (beating Republicans John Howe and Kim Crockett) kstp.com
- In office
- Refused 2025 U.S. Justice Department requests for Minnesota's full voter registration list (names, birthdates, addresses, partial Social Security numbers), offering the public list instead; the DOJ sued, and a federal judge dismissed the suit on Aug. 17, 2026 kttc.com
- Urged the Legislature to pass the 2023 law restoring voting rights to people with felony convictions once they are out of prison kstp.com
- His campaign says that as a legislator he wrote legislation letting eligible Minnesotans vote by mail, inspired by his father's Parkinson's disease stevesimonmn.com
- The DFL Party credits him with creating voter preregistration for 16- and 17-year-olds dfl.org
- Website
- stevesimonmn.com
- Social
- X: @mnstevesimonFacebook
- Raised
- $466,357, $548,191 on hand cfb.mn.gov
- Interviews
- KAXE 2026 Election Guide
- Also running
- Seth Kuhl-Stennes (Green), Tad Jude (Republican), George "Chip" Tangen (Libertarian)
Q: Where does Simon stand on election security?
A: Says Minnesota's elections are "fair and accurate and honest and secure" and that state laws and practices before, during and after elections prevent and catch rare wrongdoing.
mprnews.orgQ: Where does Simon stand on voter ID?
A: Supports Minnesota's current flexible ways of proving identity, saying the approach "has made our system highly secure and trustworthy"; rejects a stricter photo ID requirement.
kaxe.orgQ: Where does Simon stand on voting access?
A: Wants to keep options such as same-day registration and voting from home, and expand voting options for seniors, students and all eligible Minnesotans.
stevesimonmn.comQ: Where does Simon stand on federal involvement in elections?
A: Lists defending Minnesotans' voting freedom against federal interference as a top priority; says voters' private data held by his office does not belong to the federal government.
kaxe.orgQ: Where does Simon stand on state flag?
A: As a member of the State Emblems Redesign Commission, said in 2023 the new flag "captures the imagination" and that he hopes Minnesotans "unite around it for generations to come."
sos.mn.govQ: Where does Simon stand on voter privacy?
A: Pledges to protect sensitive voter information from misuse.
stevesimonmn.com
