Gov.-elect Amy Klobuchar gives her acceptance speech at the DFL watch party at the Intercontinental Hotel in St. Paul. Klobuchar won Tuesday with 54.49% of the vote, adding to the multiple Democratic candidates elected across the country. (Sydney Baxter/The Crest) 
The crowd at the DFL watch party cheers and waves signs in response to Klobuchar’s promises as governor-elect. (Abigail Peters/The Crest) 
Republican State House Speaker Lisa Demuth gives her concession speech after losing the gubernatorial race to U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar. (Iman Mohamed/The Crest) 
Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan gets emotional while speaking about her Native identity and experiences as a member of the White Earth Nation. Flanagan is the first female Native American U.S. senator in history. (Abigail Peters/The Crest) 
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her laughs with others at the DFL watch party. (Sydney Baxter/The Crest) 
Klobuchar and running mate Ben Schierer wave to supporters after addressing the crowd in her acceptance speech. (Abigail Peters/The Crest) 
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison thanks supporters for their efforts in phone banking and campaigning for DFL candidates in the midterm elections. (Abigail Peters/The Crest) 
A GOP watch party attendee cheers in joy as Republican candidate Bryon Donalds wins Florida’s governor race with 50.1% of the vote. The mood at the GOP watch party Tuesday in Bloomington quickly shifted as results turned against Minnesota Republicans. (Iman Mohamed/The Crest) 
Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan talks about standing up to President Donald Trump in her acceptance speech. (Sydney Baxter/The Crest) 
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum addresses the crowd at the DFL watch party in St. Paul. (Sydney Baxter/The Crest) 
A GOP member leans in to speak to another attendee after Klobuchar was declared the winner. (Iman Mohamed/The Crest)
Democrats took control of the U.S. Senate and House Tuesday in a nationwide push that extended to victories for Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the governor’s race and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in the state’s U.S. Senate race.
Flipped seats were the story of the night as Democrats turned the current Republican Senate majority on its head in a move widely touted as a rejection of President Donald Trump’s recent actions. As of 2 a.m. on Nov. 4, the Democratic Party controlled 54 U.S. Senate seats and 225 U.S. House seats.
In her winning speech, Klobuchar said that throughout Trump’s second term, he has had a lot of rubber stamps handed to him.
“But tonight the ink ran out. It ran out in Texas, it ran out in Ohio, it ran out in South Carolina and it ran out because the next senator from the state of Minnesota will be our own Peggy Flanagan,” Klobuchar said.
Republicans Michele Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter, and Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth held early leads in the Senate and governor’s races, respectively, but the results swung in the Democrats’ favor as votes from Hennepin and Ramsey counties poured in.
“The results were different than what we wanted, but yet all of us coming together, crossing the state, bringing a message of hope and change is still out there,” Demuth said in her concession speech.
The same trend was true in the attorney general and secretary of state races. Attorney General Keith Ellison won a third term over Republican Ron Schultz. Secretary of State Steve Simon won a fourth term, defeating former state legislator and district court judge Republican Tad Jude.
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum was also handily elected to her 14th term representing Minnesota’s 4th Congressional District, which includes St. Paul and the University of St. Thomas.
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her responded to the Democratic sweep of the U.S. Senate in an interview with the Crest Tuesday.
“This is our country, saying that they are not going to let Donald Trump go unchecked,” Her said.
Democratic State Rep. James Talarico flipped a U.S. Senate seat in Texas — for the first time since 1993 — defeating Republican opponent Ken Paxton, who had received a notable endorsement from Trump.
Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed took the Senate seat for swing state Michigan, defeating Republican Mike Rogers. El-Sayed defends a Senate seat that has not been held by Republicans since 1994 and is the first Muslim U.S. senator.
“The grift stops now, and the taking back of our country from the most corrupt administration in our nation’s history starts tonight,” Flanagan said in her acceptance speech. “Because all across this state and all across this country, people are saying enough is enough.”
In her acceptance speech, Klobuchar said she will “root out the waste, the fraud” in Minnesota and hopes to rebuild trust between the government and the public.
“This is not gonna be easy to do. I will need people out there at my side, both parties,” Klobuchar said. “And spoiler alert: you may not like every single thing I do, but that is what I ran on, and that is getting things done.”
Klobuchar and Flanagan both made history in this election for Minnesota: Klobuchar is the first female governor of the state and Flanagan’s win makes her the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
St. Thomas community casts midterm ballots
St. Thomas community members cast their ballots Tuesday at McNeely Hall. Poll workers said that the stream of voters had been steady throughout the morning.
“It is the easiest place to vote here,” resident Stephanie Chandler said. “I’ve been voting here for 26 years; I’ve never had to wait in a line.”
St. Thomas first-year student Ileri Alabi said that as a first-time voter, she was “kind of confused at first, but the actual voting process was pretty easy.”
“I did a lot of research beforehand, and I just looked at everyone’s websites and compared,” Alibi said. “After that, if I was choosing between two people, I looked at summaries between the two people’s policies.”
Sophomore Juliet Delapaz also voted for the first time Tuesday. She said the fact that the election judge had a list of all students living on campus made the voting process easier for her as an out-of-state student.
“It’s important,” Delapaz said. “I feel like it’s our duty as citizens … to vote for change that we want to see, especially as college students.”
Kevin Lynch, Grace Woelfel, Reagan Boschulte, Angeline Patrick Pacheco, Ilah Daood, Sydney Baxter, Abigail Peters, Iman Mohamed and Bella Jacobs contributed to this report.
