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Former Nicole Mitchell Senate District 47 special election candidates decided

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Published  August 26, 2025 9:46pm CDT
Election
FOX 9
MN Legislature: Special elections to fill open seats

MN Legislature: Special elections to fill open seats

Multiple special elections are expected to fill three seats at the Minnesota Legislature following the deaths of Rep. Melissa Hortman and Sen. Bruce Anderson, as well as the conviction of Sen. Nicole Mitchell.

The Brief

    • A special primary held on Tuesday for District 47 in Woodbury was won by Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger on the DFL ticket, and Dwight Dorau on the republican side.
    • The seat was held by Nicole Mitchell until she resigned following a first-degree burglary conviction.
    • Another special primary election occurred for Senate District 29 – a seat left vacant by the unexpected death of Sen. Bruce Anderson.
    • The special election for the two Senate districts is scheduled for Nov. 4, 2025.

WOODBURY, Minn. (FOX 9) - A special election primary for the Minnesota Senate seat in Woodbury once held by Nicole Mitchell has been won by Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger on the DFL ticket, and Dwight Dorau on the republican side.

Special primary in Woodbury

What we know:

Three candidates filed to run for the Senate District 47 seat, including state Reps. Ethan Cha and Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger on the DFL ticket, and St. Paul teacher Dwight Dorau, who ran against Mitchell in 2022. The seat covers Woodbury and southern parts of Maplewood in the east metro.

Accoridng to the Minnesota Secretary of State website, Hemmingsen-Jaeger won 82.28% of the vote, or 1,978 total votes.

Meanwhile, Dorau received 374 votes, and 100% of the republican nomination.

As of 9:35 p.m. all 19 precincts were reporting results from a total of 59,209 registered voters.

Mitchell resignation

The backstory:

Mitchell resigned from her Senate seat in July, days after being found guilty of breaking into her stepmother's home at trial. She was in her first term in the Senate when she stepped down.

At trial, Mitchell claimed she had only broken in to check on her stepmother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

However, body camera video showed Mitchell dressed in all black, with a black cap, and a flashlight. Speaking with officers who caught her, she admitted on video: "Clearly, I'm not good at this."

What's next:

Mitchell won the seat by 16 points in 2022.

However, races in 2020 and 2016 for District 53 – the district that covered Woodbury prior to 2020 redistricting – were much closer.

In 2016, when the DFL candidate won by less than a point.

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