Except for
DFLerDavid Minge of the
2nd congressional district, all other House incumbents from Minnesota who stood for reelection were reelected. Minge's seat came under the control of the
Republican Party of Minnesota as a result of the 2000 election. DFL incumbent
Bruce Vento of the
4th congressional district died in office less than a month prior to the election; however, he was not seeking reelection, and the DFL nominee running for election to replace him,
Betty McCollum, was able to keep the seat in the DFL's hands.
Overview
United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, 2000 [1]
Incumbent
RepublicanGil Gutknecht, who had represented
Minnesota's 1st congressional district since 1994, ran against Mary Rieder of the
DFL and Rich Osness of the
Libertarian Party. Gutknecht won a fourth term, defeating second-place Rieder by a landslide margin of nearly 15 percent, as Osness placed at a very distant third.
Incumbent
DFLerDavid Minge, who was first elected in
1992, ran against
Mark Kennedy of the
Republican Party, Gerald W. Brekke of the
Independence Party, Ron Helwig of the
Libertarian Party, and Dennis A. Burda of the
Constitution Party. Kennedy dashed Minge's hopes for a fifth term, defeating the incumbent by a razor-thin margin of six one hundredths of one percent of the vote, while Brekke finished a very distant third, and Helwig and Burda, respectively, finished an even more distant fourth and fifth.
Incumbent
RepublicanJim Ramstad, who was first elected in
1990, faced off against Sue Shuff of the
DFL, Bob Odden of the
Libertarian Party, and Arne Niska of the
Constitution Party. Ramstad had no difficulty winning a sixth term in Congress, as he defeated Shuff by a 37.79 percent margin, while Odden finished a distant third and Niska finished slightly behind Odden.
Incumbent
DFLerBruce Vento died in office on October 10, 2000, less than a month before the election. However, as Vento was not seeking reelection, it was not necessary for any special election to be held or for the DFL to select another candidate.
Betty McCollum had been selected in the DFL primary to seek election to replace Vento. Opposing McCollum were
Linda Runbeck of the
Republican Party, Tom Foley of the
Independence Party, and Nicholas Skrivanek of the
Constitution Party.
McCollum did not face any great difficulty keeping the seat (which represented a very liberal population centered around
St. Paul) in DFL hands. McCollum defeated Runbeck by a margin of more than 17 percent of the vote. Due to a surprisingly strong showing by Foley (who finished about 10 percent behind Runbeck), McCollum was able to win by such a large margin while simultaneously failing to secure a majority of the vote.
Incumbent
DFLerMartin Sabo, who was first elected in
1978, faced absolutely no difficulty in winning his 12th term as the representative of the very liberal
5th congressional district, which was centered around
Minneapolis. Although he was faced, in the general election, with a very crowded field of challengers, Sabo was able to win over 69 percent of the vote, and defeated second-place
Republican Frank Taylor by an overwhelming 46.42 percent margin.
Incumbent
DemocratBill Luther, who was first elected as the U.S. representative from the
6th congressional district in
1994, faced an extremely close challenge in 2000. Luther won reelection for his fourth term in Congress by a razor-thin margin, defeating
Republican challenger
John Kline by a margin of just 1.53 percent of the vote.
Incumbent
DFLerCollin Peterson, who was first elected in
1990, faced no difficulty winning his sixth term in Congress, defeating
Republican challenger Glen Menze by a landslide 39.41 percent margin.
Incumbent
DFLerJim Oberstar, who was first elected in
1974, had no difficulty winning his 14th term in Congress, defeating
Republican challenger Bob Lemen by a margin of more than 42 percent.