1948 Election Cycle
President Harry Truman easily carried Minnesota at the top of the ticket for the DFL which helped the party flip two other offices in statewide elections. Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey unseated U.S. Senator Joseph Ball and Minneapolis funeral director Clifford Peterson defeated appointed Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner Rollin Johnson. The remaining elections for constitutional offices were competitive but held by the Republican incumbents: Governor Luther Youngdahl, Lieutenant Governor C. Elmer Anderson, Secretary of State Mike Holm, Attorney General J.A.A. Burnquist, and Treasurer Julius Schmahl.
The DFL also unseated three U.S. Representatives and won four of the nine districts overall: Roy Wier defeated freshman George MacKinnon in the 3rd CD, Eugene McCarthy beat freshman Edward Devitt in the 4th CD, and Fred Marshall was victorious over long-serving lawmaker Harold Knutson in the 6th CD. This marked the first time Democrats had held four seats in the state delegation in Minnesota history.
Both incumbent Associate Justices of the Supreme Court were reelection – Thomas Gallagher and appointed Justice Oscar Knutson.