Popular Republican Wins Minnesota GOP Primary

Despite having no opponent in the DFL primary, Chapin received 48,395 votes, putting him fewer than 4,700 votes behind Emmer’s individual total and approximately 17,000 votes behind the combined Republican primary vote.

Chapin’s total was also more than two-and-a-half times the total turnout in the district’s competitive 2024 DFL primary, which occurred during a presidential election year.

Democrats have seen other indications of increased organizational participation this cycle, including record statewide turnout during DFL precinct caucuses earlier this year.

In the 6th District, DFL caucus participation was reportedly four times higher than the district’s previous record, with approximately half of participants attending a caucus for the first time.

The share of first-time caucus participants varied substantially across the district, ranging from approximately 30 percent in Sherburne County and the St. Cloud area to roughly 70 percent in Carver County.

Those figures, however, cannot by themselves predict the November result because primary and caucus participation represent only a fraction of the electorate that votes in a general election.

The combined number of ballots cast across Tuesday’s congressional primaries was approximately one-fifth of the number of votes cast in the district during the 2024 general election, meaning hundreds of thousands of additional voters could participate in November, Star News reported.

Emmer therefore leaves the primary with an overwhelming victory and the Republican nomination secured, while Chapin’s turnout provides Democrats with an early measure of enthusiasm as both campaigns prepare for the much larger electorate expected to decide Minnesota’s 6th District on Nov. 3.