2026 Minnesota gubernatorial election

The 2026 Minnesota gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of Minnesota. Primary elections are scheduled for August 11, 2026. Incumbent two-term Democratic Governor Tim Walz ran for reelection to a third term at first but announced in January 2026 that he would not run because of the media coverage about the 2020s Minnesota fraud scandals.

 Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary 
 Candidates 
 Declared 
Bill Gates Jr., former pastor and independent candidate for Governor of Arkansas in 2022
Amy Klobuchar, U.S. senator (2007–present)

 Potential 
Nick Frentz, state senator (2017–present)
Kelly Morrison, U.S. representative from Minnesota's 3rd congressional district (2025–present)
Erin Murphy, majority leader of the Minnesota Senate (2024–present) from the 64th district (2021–present) and candidate for governor in 2018

 Withdrawn 

 Tim Walz, incumbent governor (2019–present), Democratic nominee for U.S. vice president in 2024, and former U.S. representative from Minnesota's 1st congressional district (2007–2019)

 Declined 
Angie Craig, U.S. representative from  (2019–present) (running for U.S. Senate)
Keith Ellison, attorney general of Minnesota (2019–present) (running for re-election)
Peggy Flanagan, lieutenant governor of Minnesota (2019–present) (running for U.S. Senate)
Dean Phillips, former U.S. representative from  (2019–2025) and candidate for president in 2024
Steve Simon, secretary of state of Minnesota (2015–present) (running for re-election)
Tina Smith, U.S. senator (2018–present)

 Republican primary 
 Candidates 
 Declared 
Peggy Bennett, state representative from district 23A (2015–present)
Lisa Demuth, speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives (2025–present) from district 13A (2019–present)
Scott Jensen, former state senator from the 47th district (2017–2021) and nominee for governor in 2022
Jeff Johnson, former St. Cloud city councilor (2010–2018)
Patrick Knight, food company CEO
Brad Kohler, retired mixed martial arts fighter
John Krhin, pastor
Mike Lindell, CEO of My Pillow and candidate for RNC chair in 2023
Chris Madel, attorney
Phil Parrish, teacher and perennial candidate 
Kendall Qualls, healthcare technology executive, nominee for  in 2020, and candidate for governor in 2022
Kristin Robbins, state representative from district 37A (2019–present)

 Publicly expressed interest 
Julia Coleman, state senator from the 48th district (2021–present) and daughter-in-law of former U.S. Senator Norm Coleman

 Potential 
Jim Nash, state representative from district 48A (2015–present)

 Declined 
Zach Duckworth, state senator from the 57th district (2021–present) (running for re-election)
Tom Emmer, U.S. representative from  (2015–present) and nominee for governor in 2010
Pete Stauber, U.S. representative from  (2019–present)

Notes

References

Category:2020s in Minnesota