2000 United States Senate election in Minnesota

2000 United States Senate election in Minnesota
	Dayton: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Grams: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Tie: 40–50% 50% No votes
U.S. senator before election; Rod Grams; Republican	Elected U.S. Senator ; Mark Dayton; Democratic (DFL)

The 2000 United States Senate election in Minnesota was held on November 7, 2000, to select a U.S. senator from the state of Minnesota. The race pitted incumbent Republican Senator Rod Grams against former Minnesota State Auditor Mark Dayton. Dayton won with 48.83% of the vote to Grams's 43.29%. Dayton declined to run for reelection in 2006 and ran successfully in 2010 and 2014 for governor of Minnesota. He was succeeded in the Senate by Amy Klobuchar, who has held the seat ever since. Upon Dayton's swearing in, Democrats held both of Minnesota's U.S. Senate seats for the first time since 1978. As of 2024, this is the last time that a man won the Class 1 Senate seat in Minnesota.

DFL primary

Mark Dayton, former Minnesota State Auditor and unsuccessful 1982 nominee for this seat
Michael V. Ciresi, attorney
Jerry Janezich, state senator
Rebecca Yanisch
Richard "Dick" Franson, city councilman
Oloveuse S. "Ole" Savior, artist and perennial candidate.
Gregg A. Iverson

Results

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic (DFL)	Mark Dayton	178,972	41.30
	Democratic (DFL)	Mike Ciresi	96,874	22.35
	Democratic (DFL)	Jerry Janezich	90,074	20.78
	Democratic (DFL)	Rebecca Yanisch	63,289	14.60
	Democratic (DFL)	Richard Franson	1,336	0.31
	Democratic (DFL)	Oloveuse S. Savior	1,206	0.28
	Democratic (DFL)	Gregg A. Iverson	1,038	0.24
Total votes			462,789	100.00

Republican primary

Candidate

Rod Grams, incumbent U.S. Senator
William Paul "Bill" Dahn

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rod Grams (incumbent)	112,335	89.11
	Republican	William Paul Dahn	13,728	10.89
Total votes			126,063	100.00

General election

Candidates

Mark Dayton (DFL), former State Auditor and former candidate for this seat in 1982
Rod Grams (R), incumbent U.S. Senator

Debates

Dayton and Grams had three debates, one on October 18, one on October 26, and one on November 3.

Results

2000 United States Senate election in Minnesota^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic (DFL)	Mark Dayton	1,181,553	48.83	+4.73
	Republican	Rod Grams (incumbent)	1,047,474	43.29	−5.76
	Independence	James Gibson	140,583	5.81	+0.43
	Grassroots	David Daniels	21,447	0.89	−0.01
	Socialist Workers	Rebecca Ellis	12,956	0.54	+0.40
	Constitution	David Swan	8,915	0.37	n/a
	Libertarian	Erik D. Pakieser	6,588	0.27	n/a
	Write-in	Ole Savior	4	0.00	n/a
Total votes			2,419,520	100.00	n/a
	Democratic (DFL) gain from Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Aitkin (largest city: Aitkin)
Big Stone (largest city: Ortonville)
Grant (largest city: Elbow Lake)
Lincoln (largest city: Tyler)
Marshall (largest city: Warren)
Pennington (largest city: Thief River Falls)
Pine (largest city: Pine City)
Polk (largest city: East Grand Forks)
Pope (largest city: Glenwood)
Red Lake (largest city: Red Lake Falls)
Yellow Medicine (largest city: Granite Falls)
Beltrami (largest city: Bemidji)
Blue Earth (largest city: Mankato)
Chippewa (largest city: Montevideo)
Clay (largest city: Moorhead)
Fillmore (largest city: Spring Valley)
Freeborn (largest city: Albert Lea)
Itasca (largest city: Grand Rapids)
Koochiching (largest city: International Falls)
Lac qui Parle (largest city: Madison)
Mahnomen (largest city: Mahnomen)
Nicollet (largest city: North Mankato)
Rice (largest city: Faribault)
Swift (largest city: Benson)
Traverse (largest city: Wheaton)
Winona (largest city: Winona)
Kandiyohi (Largest city: Willmar)
Jackson (Largest city: Jackson)
Renville (Largest city: Olivia)

References

^ General Election Results, Minnesota Secretary of State Archived November 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

[1] General Election Results, Minnesota Secretary of State Archived November 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

[1]

v t e (1999 ←) 2000 United States elections (→ 2001)
President	2000 United States presidential election
U.S. Senate	Arizona California Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia (shadow) Florida Georgia (special) Hawaii Indiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York North Dakota Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
U.S. House	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia delegate shadow Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois 1st Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
State governors	Delaware Indiana Missouri Lt. Gov Montana New Hampshire North Carolina Lt. Gov North Dakota Utah Vermont Washington West Virginia
Attorneys General	North Carolina Pennsylvania Washington
State legislature	Arizona Senate California Assembly Senate Delaware House Senate Iowa Senate Minnesota House Senate Montana House New Mexico Senate North Carolina House Senate Pennsylvania House Senate Texas House West Virginia Senate
Mayors	Anchorage, AK Baton Rouge, LA Fort Lauderdale, FL Fresno, CA Irvine, CA Milwaukee, WI Orlando, FL Portland, OR Sacramento, CA San Diego, CA San Juan, PR Santa Ana, CA

v t e Notable third-party performances in United States elections
* Third party is endorsed by a major party
Presidential	1788–89* 1792* 1832 1848 1856 1860 1872* 1892 1896* 1912 1924 1948 1960 1968 1980 1992 1996
Senatorial (since 1940)	California 1940 Minnesota 1940 North Dakota 1940 Wisconsin 1940 Minnesota 1942 Minnesota 1942 Nebraska 1942 Virginia 1942 North Dakota 1944 Wisconsin 1944 California 1946 (Republican write-in) North Dakota 1946 North Dakota 1946 Tennessee 1946 Arkansas 1948 Alabama 1950 New Hampshire 1950 California 1952 Maine 1952 New York 1952 North Dakota 1952 Virginia 1952 South Carolina 1954 (Democratic write-in) Virginia 1954 Utah 1958 Virginia 1958 Virginia 1960 Virginia 1964 Mississippi 1966 Virginia 1966 Virginia 1966 Alabama 1968 Alaska 1968 Maryland 1968 New York 1968 Connecticut 1970 Mississippi 1970 New York 1970 Virginia 1970 Louisiana 1972 Florida 1974 Hawaii 1974 Nevada 1974 New York 1974 Utah 1974 Minnesota 1976 Virginia 1976 Alabama 1978 Arkansas 1978 Maine 1978 Mississippi 1978 New York 1980 Washington 1982 Tennessee 1984 Virginia 1990 Alaska 1992 Arizona 1992 Hawaii 1992 Louisiana 1992 Ohio 1992 Arizona 1994 Minnesota 1994 Ohio 1994 Vermont 1994 Virginia 1994 Alaska 1996 Minnesota 1996 Arizona 2000 Massachusetts 2000 Minnesota 2000 Alaska 2002 Kansas 2002 Massachusetts 2002 Mississippi 2002 Oklahoma 2002 Virginia 2002 Oklahoma 2004 Connecticut 2006 Indiana 2006 Maine 2006 Vermont 2006* Arkansas 2008 Idaho 2008 Minnesota 2008 Oregon 2008 Alaska 2010 (Republican write-in) Florida 2010 Indiana 2010 South Carolina 2010 Utah 2010 Indiana 2012 Maine 2012 Maryland 2012 Missouri 2012 Montana 2012 Vermont 2012* Kansas 2014 South Dakota 2014 Wyoming 2014 Alaska 2016 Arizona 2016 Idaho 2016 Indiana 2016 Kansas 2016 Maine 2018 New Mexico 2018 Vermont 2018* Alaska 2020* Arkansas 2020 Minnesota 2020 Nebraska 2020 Idaho 2022 North Dakota 2022 Utah 2022* Maine 2024 Nebraska 2024 Utah 2024 Vermont 2024*
Gubernatorial (since 1940)	Minnesota 1940 Wisconsin 1940 Connecticut 1942 Minnesota 1942 New York 1942 Wisconsin 1942 North Dakota 1944 Wisconsin 1944 California 1946 Tennessee 1950 Maine 1952 Vermont 1952 Tennessee 1954 Nebraska 1956 Texas 1956 Utah 1956 Oklahoma 1958 Tennessee 1958 North Dakota 1960 Tennessee 1962 Virginia 1965 Alabama 1966 Georgia 1966 Idaho 1966 Maryland 1966 New York 1966 Tennessee 1966 Alabama 1970 Arkansas 1970 New Hampshire 1970 New York 1970 Mississippi 1971 New Hampshire 1972 Texas 1972 Washington 1972 Virginia 1973 Maine 1974 Nebraska 1974 Nevada 1974 Texas 1974 Vermont 1974 Vermont 1976 Alaska 1978 California 1978 Maine 1978 Rhode Island 1978 Alaska 1982 Arizona 1982 Hawaii 1982 Alaska 1986 Arizona 1986 Illinois 1986 Maine 1986 Oklahoma 1986 Vermont 1986 Utah 1988 Alaska 1990 Connecticut 1990 Kansas 1990 Maine 1990 New York 1990 Oklahoma 1990 Oregon 1990 Utah 1992 West Virginia 1992 Alaska 1994 Connecticut 1994 Hawaii 1994 Maine 1994 New Mexico 1994 Oklahoma 1994 Pennsylvania 1994 Rhode Island 1994 Vermont 1994 Alaska 1998 Maine 1998 Minnesota 1998 New York 1998 Pennsylvania 1998 Rhode Island 1998 Kentucky 1999 New Hampshire 2000 Vermont 2000 Arizona 2002 California 2002 Maine 2002 Minnesota 2002 New Mexico 2002 New York 2002 Oklahoma 2002 Vermont 2002 Wisconsin 2002 Alaska 2006 Illinois 2006 Maine 2006 Massachusetts 2006 Minnesota 2006 Texas 2006 Louisiana 2007 Vermont 2008 New Jersey 2009 Colorado 2010 Idaho 2010 Maine 2010 Massachusetts 2010 Minnesota 2010 Rhode Island 2010 Wyoming 2010 Kentucky 2011 Virginia 2013 Alaska 2014* Hawaii 2014 Maine 2014 Rhode Island 2014 Wyoming 2014 Maine 2018 Kansas 2018 Indiana 2020 Vermont 2020* Alaska 2022 Idaho 2022 Oregon 2022 North Dakota 2024 Utah 2024 (Republican write-in)
Territorial Governors (since 1970)	U.S. Virgin Islands 1970 Puerto Rico 1972 District of Columbia 1974 U.S. Virgin Islands 1974 U.S. Virgin Islands 1978 Puerto Rico 1980 U.S. Virgin Islands 1986 Puerto Rico 1988 U.S. Virgin Islands 1990 U.S. Virgin Islands 1994 U.S. Virgin Islands 1998 Puerto Rico 2000 Northern Mariana Islands 2001 U.S. Virgin Islands 2002 Northern Mariana Islands 2005 U.S. Virgin Islands 2006 Northern Mariana Islands 2009 District of Columbia 2010 U.S. Virgin Islands 2010 District of Columbia 2014 Northern Mariana Islands 2014 U.S. Virgin Islands 2014 Puerto Rico 2016 District of Columbia 2018 Guam 2018 Northern Mariana Islands 2018 U.S. Virgin Islands 2018 Puerto Rico 2020 District of Columbia 2022 Northern Mariana Islands 2022 U.S. Virgin Islands 2022 Puerto Rico 2024
State legislative	Alaska Hawaii Louisiana Montana West Virginia Wyoming
Portal:Politics Third party (U.S. politics) List of third-party and independent performances in United States elections Third-party and independent members of the United States Congress

2000 United States Senate election in Minnesota

DFL primary

Results

Republican primary

Candidate

Results

General election

Candidates

Debates

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

References