DFL candidate for governor Mark Dayton, shortly before 11 p.m., held out hope that votes still coming in from Duluth and much of the rest of northeastern Minnesota would tip the scales in his favor, helping him close a shrinking gap between himself and rival Margaret Anderson Kelliher.

"We need to do very well up on the Range," he said, referring to Iron Range counties where he has run strongly during the campaign, in part because of union support.

Dayton trailed by 2 percentage points with 68 percent of the state's precincts counted. But few votes had come in from Duluth and the rest of northeastern Minnesota. Those that did come in from Duluth were breaking in Dayton's favor by a 2-1 margin.