Politics in Minnesota’s Top 10 House Races

Sarah Janecek, publisher of Politics in Minnesota, has put together an interesting list of the top 10 Minnesota House races to watch. She notes that huge gains for Democrats in 2006 — picking up 19 seats and pulling to within five votes of a veto-proof majority — were achieved by winning a lot of tightly contested races.

The closest race? Paul Gardner’s upset of anti-tax devotee Phil Krinkie by just 51 votes. Next on the list: progressive farmer Ken Tschumper’s  52-vote triumph over eight-term incumbent Gregory Davids. The two will square off again this year. Of the eight races decided by less than 200 votes, Democrats won six of them.

This means that, despite a sordid political climate for Republicans, further gains for the Democrats are not necessarily a given. Janecek notes that Ben Golnick, political consultant to the House Republican Campaign Committee, is promising to run vigorous campaigns against vulnerable freshmen DFLers.