The primary election is Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know.

Minnesota voters on Tuesday will head to the polls to choose which candidates advance to the important November midterm election.

On the ballot: all constitutional offices, including governor and attorney general; an open U.S. Senate seat; the highly competitive 2nd Congressional District; and all 201 legislative seats. Tuesday’s election will determine which candidates from each party will appear in November.

Minnesota doesn’t have party registration, meaning anyone can vote in the primary election, but you can only vote for one party or the other, not both. 

Here’s how to vote and what will be on your ballot.

Where do I vote and what’s on my ballot?

Use the secretary of state’s website to determine where to go to cast your ballot. After typing in your address, you can see which races are on your ballot. View what your ballot will look like here. 

All primary election ballots will have a handful of statewide races this year, including governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor and an open U.S. Senate seat. 

Your ballot will have Democrats on one column and Republicans on the other. Only choose one — if you vote for more than one political party your ballot will not count. 

The entire state Legislature is up for election in November, but your primary ballot may only show one candidate. Eleven current Minnesota lawmakers are facing primary challengers. 

Who is running?

One of the most high-profile races on your ballot this year is the race for Minnesota governor. Gov. Tim Walz dropped his reelection bid in January amid increased scrutiny over fraud in the state’s social safety net programs. 

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar is running to replace him, and she’s expected to win the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nomination after securing the party’s endorsement in May, when she fended off a challenge from Kobey Layne, a 26-year-old trans activist and former GOP legislative assistant. 

The Republican primary for governor is competitive. Army veteran and former healthcare executive Kendall Qualls won the GOP endorsement in May, but other contenders have pressed on. House Speaker Lisa Demuth and Mike Lindell, who recently stepped down as the MyPillow CEO, are running against Qualls. President Donald Trump endorsed Lindell last month.

U.S. Sen. Tina Smith is retiring, and U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan are facing off for the DFL nomination to replace her. Flanagan won the DFL endorsement, but Craig’s campaign has a significant fundraising advantage over Flanagan.

You can read a Reformer profile of Flanagan last year that focused on her eagerness to stand up to the then-new second Trump administration, while a Reformer profile of her last month explored her response to the Democrats’ most vulnerable issue: fraud. The Reformer also profiled Craig’s desire to reduce polarization and focus on kitchen-table issues last fall and then examined what she learned from her most controversial vote — in favor of the Laken Riley Act — that she says she regrets.

On the Republican side, GOP-endorsed former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze will face off against former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya, whose name recognition and well-financed campaign could boost her performance in a primary. Her position in favor of abortion rights within limits will test the issue’s importance in the primary. Former NBA player Royce White is also running. In 2024, he won the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate but lost to Klobuchar in the general election. 

Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes Burnsville, Shakopee and Northfield, is the state’s most competitive. Three Democrats are vying to replace Craig: former state Sen. Matt Little, state Rep. Kaela Berg and state Sen. Matt Klein. State Sen. Eric Pratt is running unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Local races to watch

Among the legislative primaries to watch are state Sen. Ron Latz, who has served in the Legislature representing St. Louis Park for more than two decades, against former St. Louis Park City Council Member Lynette Dumalag. She argues it’s time for change and has won the endorsement from a bevy of local officials. 

The top two candidates of five on the ballot will advance in the race to become the Hennepin County attorney, which is the most high-profile prosecutor job in the state, while also representing the county in important civil matters.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty is leaving after just one term. The candidates are state Rep. Cedrick Frazier, who won the DFL endorsement; former acting U.S. attorney Anders Folk; Diane Krenz, a former county prosecutor; Ramsey County assistant attorney Hao Nguyen; and, Matt Pelikan, who won the DFL endorsement in the 2018 attorney general race before losing in the primary to Attorney General Keith Ellison.