2012Final resultsIncumbent defeated
2012 election for Minnesota Senate District 5
Minnesota State Senate · Minnesota
Tom Saxhaug (D) won with 52.3% of the vote, defeating John Carlson (R) by 4.8 points.
Tom SaxhaugDemocrat · winner · incumbent
52.3%21,301
John CarlsonRepublican · incumbent
47.6%19,362
40,709 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 2012
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET