Minnesota Senate, District 51
TLDR: Two candidates are running for the open seat: Juline Birgersson (Republican) and Simon Trautmann Cordova (DFL). Sen. Melissa Halvorson Wiklund (DFL), in the Senate since 2013, announced Dec. 16, 2025 that she will not run again. The winner serves a 4-year term, and it's on the ballot only for Bloomington voters in House District 51B (find yours in the voter guide).
Juline BirgerssonRepublican- Work
- Retired
- Lives in
- Bloomington
- Background
- 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
- Neighborhood block captain for more than 30 years youtube.com
- Describes herself as retired youtube.com
- Testified as a Bloomington resident before the Minnesota Senate Taxes Committee on S.F. 3393 (Bloomington local sales tax authorization), April 26, 2022 lrl.mn.gov
- First-time candidate; campaign committee registered with the Campaign Finance Board June 16, 2026 cfb.mn.gov
- Raised
- $7,600, $7,101 on hand cfb.mn.gov
Simon Trautmann CordovaDemocratic-Farmer-Labor- Now
- Attorney and partner at Trautmann Martin Law PLLC; former Richfield City Council member (2018–2024)
- Work
- Attorney
- Lives in
- Richfield
- Background
- 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
- Says he left elected office in 2024 to focus on his family and law practice youtube.com
- Partner, Trautmann Martin Law PLLC; practices business, nonprofit, real estate and employment law trautlaw.com
- J.D., University of St. Thomas School of Law (2008); B.A., North Central University (2003); admitted to the Minnesota bar in 2008 trautlaw.com
- Says he previously worked as an ESL teacher before becoming a lawyer youtube.com
- Member, Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association and Puerto Rican Bar Association; former DFL Central Committee member simonfor51.com
- In office
- As a Richfield council member, says he pushed for city-sponsored legal clinics, language-access measures and infrastructure funding, including the 77th Street underpass and I-494 pedestrian bridge (candidate's own account) youtube.com
- Raised
- $32,075, $8,875 on hand cfb.mn.gov
Q: Where do they stand on taxes, spending and fraud?
Birgersson: Says her main reason for running is to "bring back fiscal responsibility"; says state spending has grown far faster than population and must be reduced. youtube.com
Birgersson: Pledges to vote to eliminate the state tax on Social Security, wants to look at eliminating property taxes for people over 65, and wants to lower Minnesota's corporate income tax. youtube.com
Birgersson: Calls fraud the most important issue; wants everyone involved prosecuted, follow-up checks on every state grant, and supports a proposal that would trigger an automatic legislative audit when a program runs 5% over budget and stop its funding at 10% over. youtube.com
Trautmann Cordova: Says the state must balance revenue and spending and prioritize children, health care and the most vulnerable; told the MNCPA "every dollar must be accounted for." mncpa.org
Trautmann Cordova: Supports standing up the new Office of Inspector General, holding third-party program authorizers accountable, and adding staff to the attorney general's office. youtube.com
Q: Where do they stand on health care?
Birgersson: Says she is "not convinced" universal health care is the answer, citing wait times she saw while living in Sweden. youtube.com
Trautmann Cordova: Calls health costs "unaffordable and unsustainable" for small employers; supports universal health care, starting with primary care and pilot programs. youtube.com
Q: Where do they stand on schools?
Birgersson: Supports public schools but wants money moved from administration to basics like reading, math and science, opposes ethnic studies, and would not support unfunded state mandates on schools. youtube.com
Trautmann Cordova: Says "no dollar invested in children is wasted"; wants continued state investment and fair statewide standards, and supports teaching state history from multiple viewpoints. youtube.com
Q: Where do they stand on guns and public safety?
Birgersson: Says responsible gun owners and hunters are not the problem; would focus on criminals and fund violent-offender and drug task forces. youtube.com
Trautmann Cordova: Would vote for a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines; also stresses tools to intervene during mental-health crises. youtube.com
Q: Where do they stand on abortion?
Birgersson: Says the 2023 state law changes on abortion "went too far" and that no further expansion of access is needed. youtube.com
Trautmann Cordova: At the Sept. 16 forum he said the Legislature "has passed good legislation to protect reproductive health" and the courts have found a constitutional right to privacy; said the task now is to preserve those protections by electing people who "won't dismantle it." youtube.com
Q: Where do they stand on immigration enforcement?
Birgersson: Asked at the Sept. 16 forum about immigration enforcement, she described her own residency process in Sweden and her husband's U.S. green-card process and said "there are ways to come into this country legally"; said many of the people without legal status who were taken during the federal operation were "harmful criminals." youtube.com
Trautmann Cordova: Sharply criticizes federal ICE tactics in Minnesota; supports state legislation such as the North Star Act to hold law-breakers, including federal agents, accountable. youtube.com
