DFL candidate’s residency questioned in Senate District 60 special election

Kyle Brown KSTP

An election contest filed with the Minnesota Supreme Court claims a candidate running for the vacant seat in Senate District 60 has not properly established residency there.

The petition brought by Sonia Neculescu, a District 60 voter, alleges DFL candidate Mohamed Jama voted in District 63 on Election Day using same-day registration and therefore could not have lived in District 60 for a full six months prior to the Jan. 28 special election as state law requires.

Jacob Hooper, Jama’s campaign manager, allegedly messaged a DFL official that Jama has lived in District 60 “for about 6 months” but “used [his] old address” to vote in 2024 “because this was in the process of moving,” according to an exhibit included in the filing.

The petition notes that same-day voter registration requires the voter to provide proof of their current residence.

“If Jama was successfully able to provide proof of current residence in Senate District 63 on November 5, 2024, then he could not have also resided in Senate District 60 at least six months prior to the upcoming January 28, 2025 Special Election,” the filing states.

Neculescu asked the Supreme Court to rule that Jama is ineligible for office and for the Hennepin County Auditor to either keep Jama’s name off the ballot for the Jan. 14 primary or declare that any votes cast for him will not count.

The Minnesota Supreme Court is expected to hear the case on Friday.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has reached out to Jama’s campaign for comment and is awaiting a response.

Gov. Tim Walz ordered the special election in District 60 after Sen. Kari Dziedzic died of cacer last month.

Candidates were given one day — Dec. 31 — to file for office. Twelve people filed paperwork, but two ended up withdrawing, leaving 10 candidates ahead of next week’s primary election: eight Democrats and two Republicans.

The contest over Jama’s primary address comes after a judge found DFL House candidate Curtis Johnson was ineligible for office because he did not properly establish residency in House District 40B. Johnson resigned the seat in the wake of the judge’s ruling, and a special election will also be held in that district on Jan. 28.