Voters head to the polls in northern Minnesota Tuesday in a special primary to replace Republican Sen. Justin Eichorn, who resigned last month after his arrest in an underage prostitution sting.
Denise Slipy, an environmental health professional and first responder from Breezy Point, is the only DFL candidate in the race and will move on automatically to the April 29 special election.
But there’s a crowded field on the GOP side, including former Minnesota GOP Party Chair and Nisswa Mayor Jennifer Carnahan; Keri Heintzeman, the former district director for President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign; and Josh Gazelka, the son of former Senate leader Paul Gazelka.
Former Breezy Point Mayor Angel Zierden, army veteran Steve Cotariu, businessman John Howe, conservative activist Doug Kern and former House candidate Matthew Zinda are also running in the special primary race.
Senate District 6, which covers portions of Crow Wing, Cass and Itasca counties, is a solidly conservative district. Eichorn defeated his DFL challenger in 2022 by 27 percentage points.
Eichorn, who resigned from his seat last month, is facing federal charges after he allegedly tried to solicit sex from a 17-year-old girl. The Minnesota Senate is narrowly divided 34-32 pending the results of the special election.
The Senate District 6 race is the third special election to be held in Minnesota so far this year. A late-January special election was held to fill a Minneapolis Senate seat after DFL Sen. Kari Dziedzic died from ovarian cancer.
Another special election in March filled a Roseville-area House seat that had become vacant after a Democrat was ruled ineligible to serve because he failed to meet residency requirements.
