Republicans kept a Minnesota state Senate seat in their column Tuesday as Keri Heintzeman won a special election to replace a GOP lawmaker who resigned.
With nearly 100 percent precincts reporting, Heintzeman had 60 percent of the vote for to the 40 percent of DFL nominee Denise Slipy — a more than 4,400-vote edge.
The comfortable Heintzeman victory in Senate District 6, a north-central district that has become solidly Republican in recent elections, means the party is will return to 33 members. That’s one shy of the 34-seat DFL majority.
Heintzeman should take office soon after the unofficial results are certified. The legislative session has fewer than three weeks remaining.
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Heintzeman is a Nisswa business owner. She’s married to state Rep. Josh Heintzeman — making them the second husband-and-wife pair in the current Legislature. Rep. Marion Rarick, R-Maple Lake, and Sen. Jason Rarick, R-Pine City, are the other married legislators.
It was the third time this year a Minnesota legislative seat was being filled in a special election.
This one was was needed to replace Justin Eichorn, a Republican who resigned from the Minnesota Senate after his arrest and a federal charge over attempted solicitation of a minor.
Heintzeman campaigned on her support for conservative values, including cutting government spending, lowering taxes, supporting gun rights and opposing abortion.
