Kenyan-Born Huldah Momanyi-Hiltsley Wins Minnesota House Re-Election in 72% Landslide

Kenyan-born politician Huldah Momanyi-Hiltsley has won a second term in the Minnesota House of Representatives, capturing 71.8 percent of the vote in District 38A during the midterm elections held Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

Unofficial results showed Momanyi-Hiltsley, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party, received 9,852 votes. Her Republican challenger, Charlie Kistler, finished a distant second with approximately 28 percent of the ballots cast, leaving the incumbent with a margin of more than 43 percentage points.

Momanyi-Hiltsley was first elected to the seat in November 2024, when she made history as the first Kenyan-American to serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Tuesday's victory secures her return to the state capitol in St. Paul for the legislative session that begins in January 2027.

District 38A covers Brooklyn Center and part of Brooklyn Park, two suburban cities immediately northwest of Minneapolis in Hennepin County. The area is among the most culturally diverse in Minnesota, home to large communities with roots in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and the district has reliably elected DFL candidates in recent election cycles.

Momanyi-Hiltsley was born in Nyamira County in western Kenya and moved to the United States with her family before eventually settling in Minnesota. She grew up in the state and built a career in the health care industry, working in the sector for years before entering elective politics.

Before running for office, she was also active in community organizations across the Twin Cities metro area, work she has cited as central to her decision to seek public office. Her 2024 campaign positioned her as a voice for working families in the district, and she carried the seat comfortably in that year's general election as well.

During her first term, Momanyi-Hiltsley also engaged with Kenyan diplomatic officials in Washington, DC, including talks at the Kenyan Embassy, maintaining connections with the country of her birth while serving in state government.

The Minnesota House is the 134-member lower chamber of the state legislature, with all seats carrying two-year terms. Every House district was on the ballot in the 2026 midterms, the first nationwide state and federal elections since President Donald Trump began his second term in January 2025. The DFL, founded in 1944 through a merger of the state Democratic Party and the Farmer-Labor Party, serves as Minnesota's affiliate of the national Democratic Party.

Momanyi-Hiltsley's first term unfolded during an unusual chapter in the chamber's history. The 2024 elections left the House evenly split 67-67 between the DFL and Republicans, producing a power-sharing agreement under which the two caucuses divided committee leadership and negotiated joint operating rules for the 2025 session.

Alongside the legislative races, Minnesota voters cast ballots Tuesday in races for governor, other statewide offices and the state's eight congressional seats. Results in House contests across the state were still being tallied in the hours after polls closed, leaving the composition of the chamber for the 2027 session undetermined.

The District 38A results will remain unofficial until they move through Minnesota's canvassing process, in which county and state election officials review and certify the vote totals before outcomes become final.

Momanyi-Hiltsley is expected to be sworn in for her second term when the new Legislature convenes in St. Paul in January 2027.