1978 Minnesota House of Representatives election

← 1976 November 7, 1978 (1978-11-07) 1980 →
All 134 seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives 68 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   I-R Leader Martin Olav Sabo (retired) Henry Savelkoul (retired) Party Democratic (DFL) Ind.-Republican Leader since 1968 1974 Leader's seat 57B–Minneapolis 31A–Albert Lea Last election 104 seats 30 seats Seats before 99 35 Seats won 67 67 Seat change 32 32 Popular vote 732,019 717,820
Speaker before election Martin Olav Sabo Democratic (DFL) Elected Speaker Rod Searle Ind.-Republican

The 1978 Minnesota House of Representatives election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 7, 1978, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the 71st Minnesota Legislature. A primary election was held on September 12, 1978.

The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) and Independent-Republicans of Minnesota won an equal number of seats. The new Legislature convened on January 3, 1979.

Results

Summary of the November 7, 1978 Minnesota House of Representatives election results

Party		Candidates	Votes	Seats
				No.	∆No.	%
	Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party	127	732,019	67	32	50.00
	Independent-Republicans of Minnesota	120	717,820	67	32	50.00
	American Party of Minnesota	13	12,153	0		0.00
	Libertarian Party of Minnesota	1	452	0		0.00
	Independent	3	4,415	0		0.00
	Write-in	2	4,518	0		0.00
Total				134	±0	100.00
Turnout (out of 2,804,000 eligible voters)[1]		1,624,911	57.95%		15.06 pp
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State,[2] Minnesota Legislative Reference Library[3]

Aftermath

As a result of the House being equally divided, under an agreement reached between the two parties, the Independent-Republicans would be given the speakership, the chairs of the divisions of the appropriations and tax committees, and a one-vote majority on the divisions of the tax committee. The DFL would be given the chairs and a one-vote majority on the rules and tax committees as well as the chair of the appropriations committee.^[4] The chairs and membership of the remaining committees would be equally divided.^[5]