1976Flipped from independentFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1976 election for Minnesota Senate District 43
Minnesota State Senate · Minnesota
Emily Staples (D) won with 50.8% of the vote, defeating Rolf Nelson (R) by 1.6 points, a seat another party won last time.
Emily StaplesDemocrat · winner
50.8%15,928
Rolf NelsonRepublican · incumbent
49.2%15,439
31,367 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1976
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET