Two special primary elections on Tuesday will determine the Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidates who will advance to the January general election in St. Paul’s House District 64A and Woodbury’s House District 47A.

Both seats have been vacant since their former representatives won election to new offices in November. Rep. Kaohly Her, DFL-St. Paul, was elected St. Paul’s next mayor, and Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger, DFL-Woodbury, won a special election for Senate District 47, the seat Nicole Mitchell resigned from after her burglary conviction.

Both districts strongly favor Democratic candidates. Six DFLers are seeking their party’s nomination in St. Paul’s District 64A, which includes the Union Park, Macalester-Groveland and Summit-University neighborhoods.

The following DFL candidates are on the ballot:

• Beth Fraser, a former Minnesota deputy secretary of state.

• Matt Hill, an aide on the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners.

• Meg Luger-Nikolai, a labor attorney endorsed by the DFL.

• Dan McGrath, a longtime progressive organizer.

• Lois Quam, a health care executive who helped implement MinnesotaCare.

• John Zwier, an assistant attorney general under Keith Ellison

The winner of Tuesday’s primary will face the sole Republican in the Jan. 27 special election — business owner Dan Walsh. DFLers dominate elections in St. Paul. Her won four consecutive two-year terms with more than 80% of the vote.

District 47A

Meanwhile, three candidates are seeking the DFL nomination in House District 47A, which includes parts of the city of Woodbury and southern Maplewood. No Republican filed paperwork to run in the district, meaning Tuesday’s primary will likely determine the winner of the January special election.

The following candidates have filed paperwork to run:

• David Azcona, a self-described lifelong Woodbury resident and a recent graduate of St. Olaf College. Azcona has advocated for lower-income college students in Minnesota.

• Shelley Buck, the former president of the Prairie Island Tribal Council and director of a Dakota-led nonprofit organization working to restore land around St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, known as Owámniyomni in the Dakota language. Buck has the DFL endorsement.

• Juli Servatius, who describes herself as an advocate for single mothers in Ramsey and Washington County with “40 years experience helping the poor and vulnerable” and a longtime resident of Maplewood and Woodbury.

Minnesota’s House currently has 67 Republican members and 65 DFL members, though barring a significant, unprecedented upset, January’s special elections are likely to return the chamber to a 67-67 tie, which voters delivered in the 2024 election.

Minnesota has seen an unusually high number of special elections this year due to deaths, criminal cases and a candidate residency dispute.

So far, there have been six special elections in 2025. The last time there were that many was 1994, according to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.

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The Minnesota Legislature is scheduled to reconvene on Feb. 17.

Early voting has been underway since Tuesday, Dec. 9. Information on where to vote can be found at pollfinder.sos.mn.gov.