Minnesota poised for 4-race recount ‘spike,’ triggering public funding

Four close Minnesota races appear headed for publicly funded recounts, an unusually high number that would bring additional costs for counties and the state.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said Tuesday that trailing candidates in all four races intend to request publicly funded recounts. The races include three Minnesota Legislature contests and one U.S. House seat.

“This is a modern day spike. I’d have to look at all the records over the last 10, 20, 30 years. Typically, you have one or two, sometimes three. Pretty rare to have four, and for whatever reason, we have four this year,” Simon said.

In Senate District 33, Republican Karin Housley leads DFLer Nat Smith by 42 votes. In House District 32A, Republican Nolan West leads DFLer Amanda Matchett by 22 votes. In Senate District 4, Republican Austin Peterson leads DFLer Rob Kupec by four votes.

On the federal side, in the 1st Con...