Primary underway for special election of Minneapolis state Senate seat

Minneapolis voters are headed to the polls Tuesday to nominate a candidate for an upcoming state Senate special election.

The party nominees to arise from the Senate District 60 primary will face off in two weeks, on Jan. 28.

Gov. Tim Walz called the special election last month after former DFL Sen. Kari Dziedzic died of cancer.

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Eight DFL candidates and two Republican candidates will appear on the primary ballot, but a judge disqualified one Democrat, Mohamed Jama, from participating because of evidence that he voted outside Senate District 60 in November. Any votes cast for Jama will not be counted, per the judge’s order.

Polls are open until 8 p.m. A list of candidates and instructions for finding a polling place and checking voter registration are available on the Secretary of State’s website.

The district encompasses all of northeast and southeast Minneapolis and the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood on the opposite side of the Mississippi River. It’s considered a safe Democratic district and is expected to tip a tied 33-33 Senate to DFL control.