Johnson upsets Finstad by narrow 323-vote margin
Recount is expected
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Tuesday's election saw massive wins for Democrats in Congressional races across the country and that includes a surprise DFL win for Jake Johnson in Minnesota's 1st Congressional District over GOP incumbent Brad Finstad.
Johnson declared victory early Wednesday morning with 163,057 votes to Finstad's 162,734, a difference of only 323 votes making it one of the closest congressional race of the 2026 midterm election. The narrow difference in votes all but guarantees a recount.
No official statement has been made from the Finstad campaign on whether they plan to request a recount.
Minnesota is not an automatic recount state. A losing candidate must formally request a recount at the candidate's expense. However, in an election for federal office, if the vote difference is less than 0.25% of the total votes cast, the recount would be publicly funded. The election between Johnson and Finstad does meet the threshold for a publicly funded recount.
The last Democrat to hold the Minnesota's 1st Congressional District was Tim Walz, who left the office after being elected Minnesota governor in 2018. That same year, Republican Jim Hagedorn was elected to the congressional district. In 2020, Hagedorn was reelected to the seat. In Feb. 2022, Hagedorn died in office. A special election was held to fill the vacancy left by Hagedorn. Finstad won the special election to complete Hagedorn's turn and would later win the regular 2022 election in November. He would again be reelected in 2024 by a 17 point margin.
Johnson is a former math teacher at Rochester Public Schools, who campaigned on lowering costs and working-class concerns. He said his top priority if elected would be to make life cheaper and easier for working families. He also promised to vote to end the tariffs, end the Iran War and take on corporate monopolies and health insurance companies.
During the campaign, Johnson made a point of holding a town hall meeting in every county in the first district, in contrast with Finstad who refused to hold town halls.
Johnson promised to continue holding town halls in every district county for every term he serves as a Congressman.
The State Canvassing Board will certify the results of this race 2 p.m., Nov. 19. Any written request for a recount must be submitted by the filing officer by 5 p.m. on the second day after the canvass.