Politics & Government

Franzen Defeats Downey in Senate District 49 Race

The DFL newcomer finished with a 5-percent lead over the former State Representative.

DFL candidate Melisa Franzen is officially set to represent Senate District 49 at the Capitol next year.

Franzen, who was in a hard-fought race against former Republican State Rep. Keith Downey, managed to pull it out by more than five percentage points, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State's Office.

With 34 of 34 precincts—which includes Edina, Bloomington and parts of Eden Prairie and Minnetonka—reporting shortly after 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7, Franzen secured the Senate seat with 26,893 votes to Downey's 24,045.

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Franzen thanked her new constituents for their votes via social media Wednesday, saying she looks forward to representing them in St. Paul.

"SD 49, you have bestowed upon me the privilege of representing you at the Capitol," Franzen wrote. "I am humbled and grateful. Let's get to work!"

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The new state senator received strong praise from Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Ryback, who took to Twitter to congratulate his fellow DFLer.

"One of the very best things in a very good night is newly elected Sen Melisa Franzen!" Ryback wrote. "Good work Edina/Bloomington."

Senate District 49 actually shifted from entirely Republican representation in the Legislature to entirely DFL legislators, with voters electing Ron Erhardt to House District 49A and Paul Rosenthal to House District 49B.

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