3 of 7 MN Supreme Court justices up for re-election in 2026
A frequent question/comment I get from readers regarding Constitutional Crisis 2025TM (now in Day 14) concerns elections for Supreme Court justices.
Under the Minnesota system, justices are appointed by the Governor, are subject to state Senate confirmation, and then stand for re-election every few years to retain their seats. Races for each seat are contested statewide.
There are currently seven members of the court, all of whom were appointed by Democratic Governors.
Three are up for re-election in 2026: Justices Gaitas, Hennesy, and Thissen. Three were re-elected in 2024, among those:
Justice Anne McKeig ran unopposed last year. Her case is notable in that among her public campaign backers is outgoing state Rep. Jamie Becker Finn (DFL-40B).
McKeig did not recuse herself in the recent case involving the election contest over that Roseville/Shoreview area seat, the proximate cause of the current Crisis.
Chief Justice Natalie Hudson won her re-election by a margin of 63-36 percent. Hudson counts among her campaign supporters prominent names such as Minneapolis Major Jacob Frey.
In the most recent report available, Hudson reports raising $132,000 in 2024 for her re-election campaign. She reports receiving more than $7,000 in donations from lobbyists and more than $6,000 in contributions from law firm-linked political action committees.
The re-election of Justice Karl Procaccini was even closer, with the incumbent prevailing by a 57-43 percent margin. To his credit, Procaccini has recused himself in the recent election contest/quorum cases.
As with Hudson, Procaccini reports raising a six-figure war chest, including contributions from lobbyists and PACs.
Procaccini’s opponent, attorney Matthew Hanson, earned more than 1 million votes in his challenge.
What’s remarkable about the contested races is not the result, but the level of competitiveness in contests where incumbency offers such a huge advantage and media attention is non-existent.
Information on judicial elections can be found here.