District 11 includes all of Carlton and Pine counties, the eastern half of Kanabec County, and a small part of southern St. Louis County in east-central Minnesota. Lourey first represented the area when it was District 8 after winning election in 2006, succeeding his mother, Becky Lourey, who did not seek re-election. In the last election in 2016, Lourey won with 55 percent of the vote.
The Senate District 11 DFL held a convention to endorse a candidate in Barnum on January 19, 2019. Michelle Lee won the endorsement over Stu Lourey. Lourey conceded the endorsement after Lee received just one vote less than the 60 percent of votes needed to win outright out of more than 150 delegates. Lourey said after the convention he would continue to campaign for the DFL nomination in the primary election.
District 11 Republican delegates held a convention to endorse a candidate in Hinckley on January 8, 2019. District 11B Representative Jason Rarick won the endorsement over deputy chair of the Eighth Congressional District Republicans Justin Krych. Mayor of Pine City Carl Pederson and Mathias Shir did not receive any votes. All candidates who were not endorsed agreed to withdraw their candidacies.
Prior to the primary election, some voters voting by mail expressed concerns they would not receive their ballots or their ballots would not arrive in time to be counted. Carlton County's auditor said the short time frame of the special election and supply shortages made it difficult to promptly mail ballots. Minnesota law requires, when a vacancy occurs while the Legislature is in session, that the governor issue a writ within five days of a vacancy occurring for a special election to be held within 35 days after the writ is issued. If a primary election is required, it must be held within 14 days before the special election. Several hundred mail-in ballots did not arrive in time to be counted. In Carlton County, which had approximately 2,300 registered voters in mail-only precincts, 250 ballots arrived three days after the primary election and a further 12 three days later. In Pine County, which had 752 registered voters in mail-only precincts, a total of 43 ballots had arrived late as of three days after the primary election. Carlton County's auditor predicted as many as 400 ballots would arrive late. Minnesota Secretary of StateSteve Simon said he would ask the Legislature to increase the time frame for holding future special elections given the number of late ballots.
