2006Flipped from RepublicanFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
2006 election for Minnesota Senate District 17
Minnesota State Senate · Minnesota
Rick Olseen (D) won with 47.5% of the vote, defeating Sean Nienow (R) by 1.2 points, a seat Republicans won last time.
Rick OlseenDemocrat · winner
47.5%17,355
Sean NienowRepublican · incumbent
46.3%16,919
Bill NeumanIndependent
6.2%2,278
36,552 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 2006
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET