McLaughlin files for Minnesota Senate rematch in District 7

Kim Kotonias McLaughlin has filed for a rematch in Minnesota Senate District 7, putting a Hibbing school board veteran into a race that could decide how the Iron Range takes its education and local-government fights to St. Paul. The seat reaches across portions of Aitkin, Itasca and St. Louis counties, including Hibbing, Chisholm, Virginia, Eveleth, Gilbert, Mountain Iron, Floodwood, Nashwauk, Deer River and Keewatin.

McLaughlin is not entering the race as a political novice. WDIO reported that she is a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner with nearly 28 years in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, including more than 18 years as an internal auditor and nearly a decade as a business manager for Minnesota North College. She is serving a third term on the Hibbing School Board as chair pro tem and treasurer, and she also serves as a delegate for Minnesota School Board Association District 11 and as a member of the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission. In announcing her run, McLaughlin said the Northland deserves “strong, transparent leadership” and said she wants communities to have the resources to support families, strengthen schools, create good-paying jobs and expand access to affordable health care.

The rematch dynamic is clear. Republican Sen. Rob Farnsworth, first elected in 2022, announced in January that he is seeking reelection and lives in Hibbing. He represents the same district McLaughlin is targeting, and the 2022 contest was close enough to show how quickly this seat can tighten: Farnsworth defeated Ben DeNucci 20,797 votes to 18,056, with 346 write-in votes. In the district-level results, McLaughlin received 3,962 votes and DeNucci 4,003.

That political backdrop matters in Hibbing, where school policy is already a live issue. Hibbing Public Schools serves 2,197 students across six schools, and in February AFSCME Local 480 delivered a no-confidence letter in school board leadership, specifically calling for the resignation of Board Chair John Berklich and Treasurer Kim McLaughlin amid unresolved contract negotiations. The dispute put McLaughlin’s school-board role directly into the local political conversation before she filed for the Senate seat.

Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy endorsed McLaughlin, saying she brings “integrity, professionalism” and a deep understanding of how government can work for people. With a district drawn under the special redistricting panel’s 2022 order and a voting history that has already produced narrow margins, District 7 is shaping up as a test of whether local school-board credibility can translate into legislative power for the Iron Range.