1978Flipped from DemocraticFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1978 election for Minnesota House District 9B
Minnesota House of Representatives · Minnesota
Merlyn Valan (R) won with 50.1% of the vote, defeating Keith Langseth (D) by 0.1 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Merlyn ValanRepublican · winner
50.1%5,758
Keith LangsethDemocrat · incumbent
49.9%5,743
11,501 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