As a barrage of rain poured on them, hundreds of Democrats poured into the lobby of the InterContinental St. Paul Riverfront hotel Tuesday night to see whether Minnesota’s incumbent Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidates could withstand a projected red wave.
Minnesota DFL legislators would ultimately end up with control of both the state House and Senate, holding a 70-64 House majority and taking the Senate 34-33. A Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate was called Saturday, but the House remains unclear.
The hotel lobby exuded confidence. Blue lights illuminated the high paneled ceiling next to two signs covering an entire wall reading: MINNESOTA DFL in bright white lights. Balloons sat in opposite corners of the space next to TVs showing live election coverage on CNN and MSNBC.
Despite its appearance, not all partygoers matched the event’s confidence. Many people huddled around the TVs and nervously discussed the potential outcomes of races, especially in Minnesota.
Jennifer Bloom and Randy Peterson were one of the multiple couples sitting and watching CNN’s election coverage and said they attended the party to support their daughter who works as a DFL staffer. Bloom, a civics teacher of 35 years, said she could not handle the anxiety of not knowing Minnesota’s election outcomes.
“I’ve never been so disappointed and scared for democracy,” Bloom said.
Republican candidates nationwide ran campaigns touting false claims of election fraud. In Minnesota, Republican candidate for secretary of state Kim Crockett said the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” during her campaign and advocated for repressive voting laws in Minnesota.
Peterson is a former state senator and served as a Court of Appeals judge for nearly 30 years. He said he was voting for the DFL to restore a shared sense of reality in Minnesota.
“The threat to democracy issue, I don’t think that’s overblown,” Peterson said. “I think that it’s a very serious thing where people start questioning the validity of elections. That just undercuts our entire system.”
As election results from other states began pouring in, speakers including DFL Chair Ken Martin, Sen. Tina Smith and Sen. Amy Klobuchar shared a similar message: “We’re going to win.”
At about 10:30 p.m., earlier than most attendees had anticipated, that message became a reality. The Associated Press projected Tim Walz to win the gubernatorial election and serve as Minnesota’s governor for another four-year term.
The party’s reaction was nothing spectacular because the fuse that was supposed to burn all night long instead appeared to be blown out early. There was no collective cheer from the crowd, merely scattered shouts from the partygoers.
Craig Bell is a painter and union member who said he voted for Walz to help improve union workers’ rights and pay. Bell, like many others in attendance, did not initially realize the gubernatorial race had been called.
“[I] feel good about that,” Bell said. “I did a lot of door knocking to help make that happen.”
The news of Walz’ victory quickly spread throughout the crowd. Despite concerns over other closely contested races, the DFL party had something to celebrate: their candidate was staying in the governor’s mansion.
As Lizzo’s “Good as Hell” played over speakers, attendees flooded the ballroom to hear newly reelected Walz give an acceptance speech. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan introduced a teary-eyed Walz to a screaming crowd chanting “Four more years!”
“Well Minnesota, democracy is alive and well in this state,” Walz said during his nearly 10-minute speech. “Minnesotans made a conscious decision tonight to choose a positive future, one where better days lie ahead.”
Although many attendees left the party following Walz’s speech, hundreds remained to witness the results of other key midterm races.
Democrats nationwide were putting up a better fight than expected against Republicans’ red wave.
Melissa Tallman, a criminal justice student, said she was hoping to see midterm results across the country be “mostly blue” in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June, turning abortion access into a state decision.
In Minnesota, Rep. Ilhan Omar quickly won reelection and DFL-supported Mary Moriarty was elected Hennepin County attorney. However, DFL incumbents such as Angie Craig and Keith Ellison remained locked in tight contests for most of the night.
As the night continued, the hits kept coming for Democrats. Angie Craig defeated GOP candidate Tyler Kistner for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, incumbent Steve Simon won reelection as secretary of state and incumbent Julie Blaha won state auditor reelection by about one percentage point.
The only remaining uncertainty was Keith Ellison. Although the race was still undecided, Ellison declared himself reelected as attorney general at 1:30 Wednesday morning.
“We have been counting these numbers all night and I want to tell you this: they’re almost all counted and we’re going to win,” Ellison said.
The party drew to a close around 2:00 a.m. as the last of the partygoers walked into the crisp fall air. Although Democrats still do not know how much power they will retain nationally in Congress, Minnesotans woke up on Wednesday to a DFL-controlled state Legislature for the first time since 2014, a blue lighthouse after the red wave failed to make landfall.
