1978Flipped from DemocraticFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1978 election for Minnesota House District 49A
Minnesota House of Representatives · Minnesota
Don Valento (R) won with 55.4% of the vote, defeating Howard Neisen (D) by 10.8 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Don ValentoRepublican · winner
55.4%7,405
Howard NeisenDemocrat · incumbent
44.6%5,966
13,371 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 1978
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET