2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Minnesota House District 51A

2 candidates, listed alphabetically.

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Candidates

Michael Howard

Democratic–Farmer–LaborIncumbent

In office now: State Representative, District 51A (since 2018)
Work: State Representative, Minnesota House District 51A; communications

Michael Howard has served as State Representative for District 51A in the Minnesota Legislature since 2018.

Michael Howard was first elected to the Minnesota House in 2018. He works in communications and was a communications specialist for the Minnesota House of Representatives (2007-2011).

Howard's committees

Housing Finance and Policy (Co-Chair)
Taxes
Rules and Legislative Administration

Sources for Howard

Michael Howard: official member information (Minnesota Legislature (Minnesota Senate; Minnesota House of Representatives), Public record)
Minnesota Legislature: current member roster (Minnesota Legislature (Minnesota Senate; Minnesota House of Representatives), Public record)
Michael Howard - Legislator Record (Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Public record)

Frank Pafko

Republican

Work: Former chief environmental officer, Minnesota Department of Transportation

Frank Pafko worked for the Minnesota Department of Transportation from 1977 to 2012, serving as north area manager and later chief environmental officer.

Sources for Pafko

Frank Pafko (BallotReady, Facts summarized from a public page (not copied))

Sources

Candidate list and race details

2026 State General Election candidate file (cand.txt) (Minnesota Secretary of State, Public record)

What's included: U.S. Senate and House, statewide offices, every state legislative district on the ballot and statewide ballot measures.
Everything else: Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: mnvotes.sos.state.mn.us.
Candidate lists: As of Wednesday, October 14, 2026.

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.