ST. PAUL -- The Minnesota Legislature will be controlled by Democrats the next two years, reversing a historic Republican victory two years ago.
It will be the first time in decades that Democrats have controlled the state House and Senate and held the governor's office.
At 1:15 a.m., House Republican spokeswoman Jodi Boyne said: "Speaker (Kurt) Zellers contacted Paul Thissen via phone 5 minutes ago to congratulate him on his victory. We conceded."
A little earlier, the top Minnesota Senate Democrat said that his party has regained control it held for 38 years, but lost in 2010.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, told a crowd gathered in a St. Paul hotel ballroom that Democrats have "taken back the Senate" with at least 34 members in the 67-person body.
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"The direction certainly is going that way," Senate Republican spokesman Steve Sviggum said earlier.
When asked if DFL control of the Legislature could mean tax increases, Bakk was less than direct: "I am going to meet with Gov. Dayton and we're going to put together a budget."
All 201 legislative seats were up for election.
With newly drawn legislative district lines this year, and many seats without an incumbent, more than the usual number of close races developed, further delaying word on who will be in charge of the state House and Senate.
Republicans pulled a surprise two years ago in taking control of the both the House and Senate. It was the first time in 38 years the GOP was in the Senate majority. But 2010 was a "wave election" with Republicans doing well nationwide.
"Taking back the Legislature is our No. 1 priority," DFL Chairman Ken Martin said while awaiting returns. "We were caught by surprise in 2010."
There was broad agreement in both parties that this would not be such a wave vote, so the legislative outcome came down to individual races across Minnesota.
Control of the Legislature is important because the party that runs each chamber can control what bills are debated, and what ones never see the light of day.
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The majority party also decides budget priorities, and next year's session is to approve a two-year state budget. The budget dispute last year ended with a state government shutdown.
Gridlock that led to the shutdown has been a key Democratic issue in legislative races. Democrats say the public tells them about being tired of partisanship shown in St. Paul.
However, Republicans report having success talking to voters about jobs and economic issues.
With Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton in office for at least two more years, Republicans were determined to keep control of at least one chamber to block the liberal's wishes to raise taxes on rich Minnesotans and take other actions the GOP opposes.
Democrats, meanwhile, wanted to take over the Legislature to approve Dayton plans that Republicans have blocked the past two years. They also blame property tax increases on Republican legislators.
