Zeleznikar files for third term in House District 3B race

Natalie Zeleznikar filed paperwork to seek a third term in House District 3B, a race that is likely to hinge again on the same mix of roads, schools, health care and taxes that have kept the seat among the Northland’s most competitive.

The district stretches across Hermantown, Proctor, Two Harbors, Rice Lake and Gary-New Duluth, along with 14 surrounding townships in St. Louis and Lake counties. That geography gives the seat an unusual split personality, tying together Duluth-area neighborhoods, Lake Superior shore communities and rural townships that often arrive in St. Paul with different priorities but the same demand for basic services that work.

Zeleznikar, a Republican and the House’s assistant Republican leader, first took office on Jan. 3, 2023, after winning election in 2022. The Minnesota House lists her on the Children and Families Finance and Policy, Health Finance and Policy, Rules and Legislative Administration, and Workforce, Labor and Economic Development Finance and Policy committees, assignments that place her squarely in debates over child care, health care access, labor issues and family services.

Her record so far also shows just how narrow the politics of District 3B have been. In 2024, Zeleznikar defeated Democrat Mark Munger 13,480 votes to 13,321, a margin of 159 votes. Two years earlier, she had edged longtime DFL incumbent Mary Murphy by just 35 votes, a result that triggered a state-funded recount. Few House seats in Minnesota have produced margins that tight in back-to-back cycles.

That history makes her latest filing more than routine campaign paperwork. It is an early marker for another test of whether Zeleznikar can hold together a district that spans suburban families, township voters and small towns while facing the policy flashpoints that matter most in the Northland. The 2026 primary is set for Aug. 11, the general election for Nov. 3, and the filing deadline is June 2.

On the campaign trail, Zeleznikar has framed her work around “the basics,” including schools, public safety, health care and infrastructure, while also backing small businesses and housing development. In her 2025 session highlights, she pointed to safe school funding, veterans’ homestead tax relief, Second Harvest food bank facility funding, Gitchi-Gami State Trail funding and grants for equine-experiential mental health therapy for first responders. She also said the evenly divided House forced bipartisan support for bills, a reality that could again shape what gets done for District 3B before voters decide whether to send her back to St. Paul.