Allen Wins 61B Race

DFLer Susan Allen has won the special election to replace now-Sen. Jeff Hayden.

With all precincts reporting, Allen took 56 percent of the vote. 

At 8:20, Allen's opponent threw in the towel after taking 43 percent of the vote.

“Susan is a remarkable woman and a dedicated progressive,” Nathan Blumenshine said. “Her personal story is a powerful one, and I can’t think of a stronger leader to serve as the voice of this community. I laud the respectful tone that she showed me and brought to this race. I will now do everything I can to support her work, to ensure that we bring affordable health care to all Minnesotans, educational opportunities to all children, and living-wage jobs to the many unemployed in our community.”

Wednesday morning, Allen said she was eager to dive into legislative work, and listening to constituents about their priorities. 

"My early priorities will be to bring jobs and job training to our district, work on a fair tax system for Minnesota and fight the discriminatory constitutional marriage amendment," Allen said. "I look forward to getting to know you better, hearing about your priorities and about how I can best represent you."