The 2022 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Minnesota. Incumbent Democratic (DFL) Governor Tim Walz defeated the Republican nominee, physician and former state senator Scott Jensen, winning a second term.
Jensen's advantage in rural Greater Minnesota could not overcome Walz's large lead in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Walz won the election by a comfortable 7.7% margin, narrowly larger than Biden's 7.1% margin in 2020 but smaller than his own previous record of 11.4%. With his win, Walz gave the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party its fourth consecutive gubernatorial victory, the most in the party's history. Republicans carried Freeborn and Mower counties for the first time since 2002; Beltrami, Koochiching, and Mahnomen counties since 1998; and Norman County since 1994 (although it was tied in 2018).
Furthermore, the DFL held the state house and flipped the state senate, gaining a trifecta for the first time since 2012.
Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Tim Walz, incumbent governor and former U.S. representative for Minnesota's 1st congressional district (2007–2019)
- Peggy Flanagan, incumbent lieutenant governor
Eliminated in primary
- Ole Savior, perennial candidate
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Scott Jensen, family medicine physician and former state senator
- Matt Birk, former professional football player with the Minnesota Vikings, businessman, and author
Eliminated in primary
- Bob "Again" Carney Jr., candidate for U.S. Senate in 2020
- Captain Jack Sparrow, perennial candidate
- Joyce Lynne Lacey
Withdrawn
- Michelle Benson, state senator
- Thomas Evensted, activist
- Paul Gazelka, state senator and former majority leader of the Minnesota Senate
- Mike Marti, businessman
- Mike Murphy, mayor of Lexington
- Kendall Qualls, Army veteran, businessman, and nominee for Minnesota's 3rd congressional district in 2020
- Neil Shah, physician and business owner
- Rich Stanek, former Hennepin County sheriff
Declined
- Rob Barrett, businessman, activist and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2020
- Matt Birk, former Minnesota Vikings player (endorsed Jensen and became his running mate)
- Jennifer Carnahan, former chair of the Minnesota Republican Party (2017–2021) and widow of U.S. Representative Jim Hagedorn (unsuccessfully ran for Congress in a 2022 special election)
- Karin Housley, state senator and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2018 (ran for reelection)
- Mike Lindell, inventor of My Pillow, businessman
- Carla Nelson, state senator (ran for reelection)
- Pete Stauber, U.S. representative for Minnesota's 8th congressional district (ran for reelection)
Caucuses and conventions
Caucus
The caucuses took place on February 1, 2022. A caucus is a local meeting where all who intend to vote for the Republican Party are able to select their precinct leadership, participate in a straw poll for governor, write and pass resolutions, and elect delegates to their local Basic Political Organizational Unit (BPOU). Those who were not elected BPOU delegates could become alternates and fill in for delegates who cannot attend the BPOU convention.
BPOU conventions
A BPOU has boundaries based on the county or state senate district a voter resides in. The majority of these took place in March 2022. Elected delegates of each BPOU attended a convention relating to their district to vote on the resolutions passed at the caucus, complete party business, listen to candidates, and elect delegates to the state convention and their corresponding U.S. House District convention.
State convention
The Republican State Convention was held on May 13–14, 2022, in Rochester. 2,200 delegates were elected statewide to decide the Minnesota Republican Party's endorsement in all statewide offices. The endorsed candidate receives the party's backing, including money and resources, ahead of the August 9 primary. Only one Republican, incumbent governor Arne Carlson in 1994, has won the primary without the party's endorsement. (Two Democrats, Mark Dayton and Tim Walz, won the Democratic primary against endorsed candidates.)
At the convention, Scott Jensen won the endorsement with 65% of the vote on the ninth ballot, defeating Kendall Qualls. Mike Murphy, Paul Gazelka, and Neil Shah were eliminated on earlier ballots. All the candidates who contested the endorsement pledged to forego the primary if not endorsed.
Qualls soon honored his pledge by announcing his plans to "return to private life." Rich Stanek, the only major candidate who did not compete for the endorsement, did not file for the primary, leaving Jensen without major opposition. He faced two minor candidates in the August primary.
Endorsements
Scott Jensen
Newspapers
- Dassel-Cokato Enterprise Dispatch
- Delano Herald-Journal
- Winsted Herald-Journal
Organizations
Independents and others
Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis primary
Candidates
- Steve Patterson, anti-lockdown activist
- Darrell Paulsen, business consultant, nominee for lieutenant governor in 1998
- Edwin Engelmann, nominee for lieutenant governor in 2010
Legal Marijuana Now primary
Candidates
- James McCaskel, community organizer and BLM activist
- David Sandbeck, activist and candidate for Minnesota's 4th congressional district in 2020
- Chris Wright, perennial candidate
Other parties
- Gabrielle M. Prosser, restaurant worker (Socialist Workers)
- Kevin A. Dwire, perennial candidate
- Hugh McTavish, scientist, entrepreneur and author (Independence-Alliance Party)
- Mike Winter, commercial driver, podcast host, Teamster Union steward and candidate for mayor of Minneapolis in 2021
Withdrew
- Cory Hepola, former WCCO radio host (Forward Party)
- Tamara Uselman, school administrator
- Brandon Millholland-Corcoran
Declined
- Tom Bakk, state senator and DFL candidate for governor in 2010
- Christopher Chamberlin, candidate for governor, senate, and house in 2018
- Richard Painter, University of Minnesota Law School professor, former chief White House ethics lawyer, and DFL candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018 (ran for Congress)
General election
Campaign
The election's central issues were the economy, rising crime, Walz's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, education, and abortion access following the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Walz campaigned on his first-term accomplishments, such as middle-class tax cuts, while making abortion rights a prominent focus of the campaign and attacking Jensen on abortion and his COVID-19 skepticism. Jensen attacked Walz over his COVID-19 policies, crime in the Twin Cities, inflation and gas prices, and education performance.
Jensen was criticized for promoting the hoax that schools provided litter boxes to students who identify as furries.
Endorsements
Tim Walz (DFL)
Scott Jensen (R)
Polling
Aggregate polls
Results
By county
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Anoka (largest city: Blaine)
- Beltrami (largest city: Bemidji)
- Freeborn (largest city: Albert Lea)
- Houston (largest city: La Crescent)
- Koochiching (largest city: International Falls)
- Mahnomen (largest city: Mahnomen)
- Mower (largest city: Austin)
- Norman (largest city: Ada) (tied in 2018)
By congressional district
Walz and Jensen each won four of eight congressional districts, all of which voted for the same party in the simultaneous house elections.