Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

Minnesota Lieutenant Governor
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$82,959
2024-25 FY Budget:	$17,346,000
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Minnesota Constitution, Article V, Section I the Executive Department
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota Peggy Flanagan Democratic Party Assumed office: January 7, 2019
Elections
Next election:	November 3, 2026
Last election:	November 8, 2022
Other Minnesota Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Commissioner of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Commerce Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Utilities Commission

The Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota is an elected constitutional officer, the second ranking officer of the executive branch and the first officer in line to succeed the Governor of Minnesota. The lieutenant governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and has no term limit.

Current officeholder

See also: Current Lieutenant Governors

The 50th and current lieutenant governor is Peggy Flanagan (D), who assumed office on January 7, 2019, after being elected on November 6, 2018.

Authority

The Minnesota Constitution establishes the office of the lieutenant governor in Article V, the Executive Department.

Under Article V, Section I:

The executive department consists of a governor, lieutenant governor...

Qualifications

State Executives
Current Governors
Gubernatorial Elections
2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
Current Lt. Governors
Lt. Governor Elections
2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014

Article V, Section 2 of the Minnesota Constitution establishes the qualifications of the lieutenant governor's office:

• be at least 25 years old
• be a U.S. citizen
• have been a Minnesota resident for one year before the election

Elections

Minnesota state government organizational chart

See also: Gubernatorial election cycles by state

See also: Election of lieutenant governors

Minnesota elects lieutenant governors in the midterm elections, that is, even years that are not presidential election years (e.g. 2018, 2022, 2026, and 2030). Legally, the lieutenant gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the first Monday in the January following an election.

2022

See also: Minnesota gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

The following candidates ran in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Peggy Flanagan (D)	52.3	1,312,349
		Matt Birk (R)	44.6	1,119,941
		David Sandbeck (Legal Marijuana Now Party)	1.2	29,346
		Matt Huff (Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota)	0.9	22,599
		Mike Winter (Independence-Alliance Party of Minnesota)	0.7	18,156
		Kevin A. Dwire (Socialist Workers Party)	0.3	7,241
		Kent Edwards (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	11
		Lance Hegland (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	5
		Al Smith (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	4
		Olamide Jubril (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	1,009

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,510,661
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Tamara Uselman (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

Incumbent Peggy Flanagan defeated Julia Parker in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Peggy Flanagan	96.5	416,973
		Julia Parker	3.5	14,950

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 431,923
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

Matt Birk defeated Kent Edwards and Captain Jack Sparrow in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matt Birk	89.3	288,499
		Kent Edwards	6.6	21,308
		Captain Jack Sparrow	4.1	13,213

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 323,020
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota primary election

Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota primary for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

Matt Huff defeated Ed Engelmann in the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota primary for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matt Huff	59.1	1,003
		Ed Engelmann	40.9	693

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,696
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Legal Marijuana Now Party primary election

Legal Marijuana Now Party primary for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

David Sandbeck defeated L.C. Lawrence Converse in the Legal Marijuana Now Party primary for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Sandbeck	51.9	1,461
		L.C. Lawrence Converse	48.1	1,356

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,817
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Minnesota gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

Peggy Flanagan defeated Donna Bergstrom, Judith Schwartzbacker, and Mary O'Connor in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Peggy Flanagan (D)	53.8	1,393,096
		Donna Bergstrom (R)	42.4	1,097,705
		Judith Schwartzbacker (Grassroots Party)	2.7	68,667
		Mary O'Connor (L)	1.0	26,735
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	1,084

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,587,287 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

Peggy Flanagan defeated Erin Maye Quade, Rick Nolan, James Mellin II, and Chris Edman in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Peggy Flanagan	41.6	242,832
		Erin Maye Quade	32.0	186,969
		Rick Nolan	24.6	143,517
		James Mellin II	1.1	6,398
		Chris Edman	0.7	4,019

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 583,735
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Zarina Baber (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

Donna Bergstrom defeated incumbent Michelle Fischbach and Theresa Loeffler in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donna Bergstrom	52.6	168,841
		Michelle Fischbach	43.9	140,743
		Theresa Loeffler	3.5	11,330

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 320,914
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2014

See also: Minnesota gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2014

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mark Dayton/Tina Smith Incumbent	50.1%	989,113
	Republican	Jeff Johnson/Bill Kuisle	44.5%	879,257
	Independence	Hannah Nicollet/Tim Gieseke	2.9%	56,900
	Grassroots Party	Chris Wright/David Daniels	1.6%	31,259
	Libertarian	Chris Holbrook/Chris Dock	0.9%	18,082
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.1%	1,134
Total Votes				1,975,745
Election results via Minnesota Secretary of State

Term limits

There are no term limits for the office.

Vacancies

Details of vacancy appointments are addressed under Article V, Section 5.

The last elected presiding officer of the senate shall become lieutenant governor in case a vacancy occurs in that office. In case the governor is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the same devolves on the lieutenant governor. The legislature may provide by law for the case of the removal, death, resignation, or inability both of the governor and lieutenant governor to discharge the duties of governor and may provide by law for continuity of government in periods of emergency resulting from disasters caused by enemy attack in this state, including but not limited to, succession to the powers and duties of public office and change of the seat of government.

Duties

The lieutenant governor serves as governor in the case of a vacancy in that office.

The lieutenant governor has the following eight statutory duties:

“

Shall call to order the senate on convening day (Minn. Stat. 2015, Ch 3, sec. 3.05) Any powers, duties, responsibilities and functions of the governor maybe delegated to the lieutenant governor by the governor (except Constitutional duties) (Minn. Stat. 2015, Ch 4, sec. 4.04, sub 2) Is the successor to the governor in event of vacancy in the office (Minn. Stat. 2015, Ch 4, sec. 4.06) Is a member of the Executive Council (Minn. Stat. 2015, Ch 9, sec 9.011) Is a member of the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board (Minn. Stat. 2015, Ch 15B, sec 15B.03) Is a member of the State Capitol Preservation Commission (Minn. Stat. 2015, Ch 15B, sec 15B.32) May visit state correctional facilities (Minn. Stat. 2015, Ch 243, sec. 243.48) Serves as chair of the advisory committee on Capitol Area Security (Minn. Stat. 2015, Ch 299E, sec 299E.04)

”

Divisions

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for information that describes the divisions (if any exist) of a state executive office. That information for the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota has not yet been added. After extensive research we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

State budget

See also: Minnesota state budget and finances

The Office of Governor and Lieutenant Governor's budget for fiscal year 2024-2025 was $17,346,000.

Compensation

See also: Comparison of lieutenant gubernatorial salaries and Compensation of state executive officers

Salaries for the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state are mandated in the Minnesota Constitution and established by the state legislature. The legislature created a 16-member compensation council, appointed every other January, to put forth compensation recommendations for constitutional officers by April 15 of the designated year.

Article V, Section 4 of the Minnesota Constitution addresses compensation:

...The duties and salaries of the executive officers shall be prescribed by law.

2022

In 2022, the officer's salary was $82,959, according to the Council of State Governments.

2021

In 2021, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $82,959, according to the Council of State Governments.

2020

In 2020, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $82,959 according to the Council of State Governments.

2019

In 2019, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $82,959 according to the Council of State Governments.

2018

In 2018, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $82,959 according to the Council of State Governments.

2017

In 2017, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $82,959 according to the Council of State Governments.

2016

In 2016, the lieutenant governor’s salary was increased to $82,638 according to the Council of State Governments.

2015

In 2015, the lieutenant governor’s salary was increased to $80,226 according to the Council of State Governments.

2014

In 2014, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $77,896 according to the Council of State Governments.

2013

In 2013, the lieutenant governor's salary remained at $78,197.

2012

In 2012, the lieutenant governor was paid an estimated $78,197. This figure comes from the Council of State Governments.

2010

In 2010, the lieutenant governor was paid $78,197, the 30th highest lieutenant gubernatorial salary in America.

Historical officeholders

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for chronological lists of historical officeholders; information for the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota has not yet been added because the information was unavailable on the relevant state official websites, or we are currently in the process of formatting the list for this office. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Minnesota Lieutenant Governor. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota - Google News

Contact information

Office of the Governor and Lt. Governor
130 State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

External links

• Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota