District 34B in the Minnesota House of Representatives is currently represented by DFLer XP Lee, who won a special election last September to fill the seat left vacant following the assassination of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman. The district includes parts of Brooklyn Park, Champlin and Coon Rapids.
Lee is seeking his first full two-year term and will face Republican Ruth Bittner in a rematch after defeating her with 60.8% of the vote in last year’s special election. Unlike neighboring House District 38A, where voters will choose party nominees in next week’s primary, District 34B has no primary contests. Campaign finance reports filed by last week’s statutory deadline provide an early look at how the two candidates are positioned ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.
Lee reported raising $4,397.09 between Jan. 1 and July 20, all from individual contributions. With no campaign expenditures during the reporting period, he reported $4,330.24 in cash on hand as of July 20 and no outstanding debt.
Bittner reported raising $3,642.51 during the same period, including $2,642.51 from individual contributors and a $1,000 contribution from the Republican Party’s 3rd Congressional District organization. She entered the reporting period with $3,497.58 carried over from previous campaigns and reported $6,017.88 in cash on hand at the close of the reporting period. Her campaign also reported no outstanding debt.
Although Lee outraised Bittner during the reporting period, Bittner finished with the larger cash balance because she began the year with funds remaining from previous campaigns. Lee reported no campaign expenditures during the reporting period. Bittner, meanwhile, reported just over $1,050 in spending, including website hosting, the candidate filing fee and a post office box.
The November election will mark the second meeting between the two candidates. Lee won the September 2025 special election with 4,331 votes (60.82%) to Bittner’s 2,785 votes (39.11%). The election drew 7,121 voters, representing a turnout of about 26.8% of the district’s 26,596 registered voters.
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About Tom Gitaa, Editor-in-Chief
Born and raised in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa, Tom is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Mshale which has been reporting on the news and culture of African immigrants in the United States since 1995. He has a BA in Business from Metro State University and a Public Leadership Credential from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He was the original host of Talking Drum, the signature current affairs show on the African Broadcasting Network (ABN-America), which was available nationwide in the United States via the Dish Network satellite service. On the show, he interviewed Nobel laureates such as 2004 Nobel Peace prize winner, Professor Wangari Maathai, the first woman from Africa to win the peace prize and heads of states. Tom has served and chaired various boards including Global Minnesota (formerly Minnesota International Center), the sixth largest World Affairs Council in the United States. He has previously served as the first Black President of the Board of Directors at Books for Africa. He also serves on the board of the Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium. He has previously served two terms on the board of the United Nations Association. An avid runner, he retired from running full marathons after turning 50 and now only focuses on training for half marathons.
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