In the U.S. House race Tuesday, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar was reelected for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum was reelected for the 4th District; incumbent Democratic Sen. Tina Smith was reelected to the U.S. Senate.

Amid the party’s victories, limited celebration occurred at the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party event Tuesday night. Low attendance due to heavy COVID-19 restrictions left speakers— who either spoke in person or over Zoom— with a group of silent media members and a handful of clapping DFL volunteers.

“Now if this room was full, I know people would be going nuts,” State Auditor Julie Blaha joked to an unresponsive room in the ballroom of the Intercontinental Hotel in St. Paul.

Because of the restrictions and the political repercussions, the pandemic was a hot topic.

“This is an interesting election night for us,” Minnesota Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman said on a lagging zoom call. “Our first election in a pandemic, and it is the patience and endurance test that we expected that it would be.”

Although Biden’s Minnesota victory is final, definite results will likely come later in the week for other states.

“Tonight we’re going to see projections,” Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha said. “Early data, it’s interesting, but it’s incomplete and it’s unchecked.”

In her speech to the DFL, Omar said this election’s results are not the end, “it is just the beginning.”

Click here for election results for U.S. President, U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

Annie Terry can be reached at terr2351@stthomas.edu.
Mia Laube can be reached at mia.laube@stthomas.edu.
Emily Haugen contributed to this report.