Gov. Walz calls special election to fill Rep. Hagedorn seat, that includes SE Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday officially called a special election to fill a vacant congressional seat in southern Minnesota after U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn died last week following a battle with kidney cancer.

A special primary will be held on May 24, followed by the special election on Aug. 9 — the same day Minnesota will hold statewide primary elections — within the 1st District’s current boundaries. The candidate filing period will run for two weeks and end March 15 at 5 p.m.

Candidates for the special election will likely run again in the November election, which will decide who will hold the seat in the next Congress under Minnesota’s new political maps released last week.

Hagedorn, 59, a conservative Republican and staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, was elected to Congress in 2018 on his fourth attempt to represent Minnesota’s 1st District, which stretches across the bottom of the state. Hagedorn, who was raising money for a 2022 run, voted against certifying President Joe Biden’s election hours after the failed Capitol insurrection last January.

Several elected officials expressed condolences at the news of Hagedorn’s death, including Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, as well as Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar.