1978 Minnesota House of Representatives election

The 1978 Minnesota House of Representatives election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 7, 1978, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the 71st Minnesota Legislature. A primary election was held on September 12, 1978.

1978 Minnesota House of Representatives election

← 1976 November 7, 1978 (1978-11-07) 1980 →

All 134 seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives
68 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
I-R
Leader Martin Olav Sabo
(retired)
Henry Savelkoul
(retired)
Party Democratic (DFL) Ind.-Republican
Leader since 1968 1974
Leader's seat 57B–Minneapolis 31A–Albert Lea
Last election 104 seats 30 seats
Seats before 99 35
Seats won 67 67
Seat change Decrease32 Increase32
Popular vote 732,019 717,820

Speaker before election

Martin Olav Sabo
Democratic (DFL)

Elected Speaker

Rod Searle
Ind.-Republican

The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) and Independent-Republicans of Minnesota won an equal number of seats. The new Legislature convened on January 3, 1979.

Results

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Summary of the November 7, 1978 Minnesota House of Representatives election results
Party Candidates Votes Seats
No. No. %
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party 127 732,019 67  32 50.00
Independent-Republicans of Minnesota 120 717,820 67  32 50.00
American Party of Minnesota 13 12,153 0   0.00
Libertarian Party of Minnesota 1 452 0   0.00
Independent 3 4,415 0   0.00
Write-in 2 4,518 0   0.00
Total 134 ±0 100.00
Turnout (out of 2,804,000 eligible voters)[1] 1,624,911 57.95%  15.06 pp
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State,[2] Minnesota Legislative Reference Library[3]

Aftermath

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As a result of the House being equally divided, under an agreement reached between the two parties, the Independent-Republicans would be given the speakership, the chairs of the divisions of the appropriations and tax committees, and a one-vote majority on the divisions of the tax committee. The DFL would be given the chairs and a one-vote majority on the rules and tax committees as well as the chair of the appropriations committee.[4] The chairs and membership of the remaining committees would be equally divided.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Minnesota election statistics 1950-2014" (PDF). Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved August 13, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Minnesota Election Results 1978" (PDF). Minnesota Secretary of State. pp. 8–138. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  3. ^ "Party Control of the Minnesota House of Representatives, 1951-present". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  4. ^ "Searle Sr., Rodney Newell "Rod"". Legislators Past & Present. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  5. ^ Hanson 1989, p. 72.

Bibliography

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