1980Flipped from DemocraticFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1980 election for Minnesota Senate District 35
Minnesota State Senate · Minnesota
Duane Benson (R) won with 68.7% of the vote, defeating Jerome Gunderson (D) by 37.4 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Duane BensonRepublican · winner
68.7%19,761
Jerome GundersonDemocrat · incumbent
31.3%8,994
28,755 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 1980
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET