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Don Samuelson

Won 5 consecutive elections as state house from Minnesota

Democratic
State HouseState SenateGovernor
Electoral Grade
—
Requires 3+ graded races
9
Races
7-2
W-L (78%)
+10.2
Avg Margin
1966–2004
Career Span
Best: +27.9 (1976 State House)Worst: -8.1 (2004 State House)
78%
Win Rate
-22.2
Avg Overperformance
5
Win Streak
38 yrs
Career Span
293K
Career Votes

Evidence & provenance

Source owners

Certified contest returns, candidate career records, and Akashic Edge deterministic grading inputs.

Freshness

Rendered Apr 14, 2026 from the latest candidate, contest, and forecast tables loaded in Akashic Edge.

Boundary scope

Candidate-level profile spanning every contest recorded for this person in Akashic Edge.

Claim type

Deterministic summaries, calculated grades, and certified election history. No freeform AI prose.

Source chain

MethodologyCertified contest returnsCandidate grade inputs
Open methodology

Career Margin Trend9 races

Governor
State House
State Senate
R+20EvenD+201966: R+4.3 - Click to view1968: D+0.0 - Click to view1970: D+4.5 - Click to view1974: D+27.1 - Click to view1976: D+27.9 - Click to view1980: D+3.7 - Click to view1982: D+22.9 - Click to view1986: D+18.2 - Click to view2004: R+8.1 - Click to view196619681970197419761980198219862004

Career Timeline

2004 State HouseMinnesotaDistrict 12
9,417
Candidate Votes
23.5%
Vote %
40,097
Total Votes
-8.1%
Margin
Top opponent: Paul GazelkaREP

Key Insights

4 insights generated

Deterministic highlights from career record, margins, and standout performances.

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Geographic Performance

9 races with county data

County-level results, strongest and weakest counties, and performance by county type.

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County Results Table

Sortable, searchable table of every county result for each race.

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Demographic Coalition Analysis

9 races available

Scatter plots correlating county performance with demographics: race, education, income, foreign-born.

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Opponents Faced8 opponents

Cecil AndrusDEM
1-12 matchups · 1966–1970
Paul GazelkaREP
0-12004 State House(-8.1)
William ConnorREP
1-01986 State Senate(+18.2)
Gene L GoedkerREP
1-01982 State Senate(+22.9)
Paul OgrenDEM
1-01980 State House(+3.7)
M B NelsenDEM
1-01976 State House(+27.9)
Howard SmithDEM
1-01974 State House(+27.1)
Richard M NolanOTH
1-01968 State House(0.0)
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