Democrats regained control of the Minnesota Legislature Tuesday, Nov. 6, putting them in charge of both chambers and the governor’s office for the first time in 22 years.

A blue wave swept Republicans out of control of the House and Senate after just one, tumultuous two-year term.

The GOP made history in 2010, when they took control of both houses of the Legislature for the first time since 1972.

But they couldn’t hold on against a tide buoyed by a large Democratic voter turnout that carried the state for President Obama and gave U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar a landslide victory.

House Republican Speaker Kurt Zellers called House DFL Minority Leader Paul Thissen to concede the loss of the chamber around 1 a.m.

A few minutes later, a Senate Republican spokesman said the DFL had won a majority in that body as well.

In some pivotal races, Democrat Melissa Franzen defeated Republican Rep. Keith Downey for a vacant Senate seat in Edina, while DFLer John Hoffman unseated freshman GOP Sen. Benjamin Kruse of Brooklyn Park.

In the northern suburbs, former DFL Rep. Alice Johnson of Spring Lake Park beat freshman Sen. Pam Wolf, R-Blaine.

DFLers needed to pick up just four seats to regain control of the Senate, where Republicans had a 37-30 majority heading into the election.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting statewide by 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7, DFL candidates were leading in 37 of the 67 Senate races, but some other races were too close to call.

The House appeared to be evenly split in early returns.

DFLers were six seats short of the House majority. Republicans started with a 72-62 advantage.

Most legislative seats are safely Democratic or Republican. Control was likely to be decided in about 10 competitive Senate districts and 15 to 20 swing House districts.

Here’s a look at some of those bellwether districts:

— Democrats won three open House seats in northern Ramsey County. DFLer Barb Yarusso of Shoreview won the House District 42A seat by defeating Republican Russ Bersch of Arden Hills. Next door in House District 42B, Democrat Jason Isaacson of Shoreview defeated the GOP’s Ken Rubenzer of Vadnais Heights. And Democrat Peter Fischer of Maplewood won the District 43A seat over Stacey Stout of Mahtomedi.

— In Eagan, DFLers defeated three first-term Republicans in rematches of their 2010 contests. Former DFL Sen. Jim Carlson outpaced Republican Sen. Ted Daley in Senate District 51, former DFL Rep. Sandy Masin took the seat back from GOP Rep. Diane Anderson in House District 51A, and Democratic newcomer Laurie Halvorsen defeated Republican Rep. Doug Wardlow by less than 1,000 votes.

— In Washington County, Republican Karin Housley of St. Mary’s Point squeaked out a narrow win over former state Rep. Julie Bunn, a Lake Elmo DFLer, in Senate District 39.

— Democrats picked up a House seat in the southeastern St. Paul suburbs. DFLer Dan Schoen, a Cottage Grove police officer, won the seat vacated by Republican Rep. John Kriesel. Schoen defeated Republican Derrick Lehrke, a Cottage Grove City Council member, and the Independence Party’s Ron Lischeid.

DFLers also gained a former GOP House seat in Edina as former Rep. Ron Erhardt, an ex-Republican who ran as a Democrat, won the seat Downey vacated.

— St. Paul will once again send a Hmong lawmaker to the Capitol. DFL candidate Foung Hawj easily defeated Republican Mike Capistrant in Senate District 67, the East Side seat vacated by DFL Sen. John Harrington, who stepped down earlier this year.

Republicans barely won control of the Legislature two years ago. They took the House by a combined total of less than 700 voters and the Senate by about 2,000 votes.

Nearly half the GOP incumbents were first-termers, and a lawmaker’s first re-election bid is usually his or her hardest.

Moreover, they were all running in new territory under a court-ordered redistricting map drawn up earlier this year. The new lines prompted 47 incumbents to retire, guaranteeing at least one-fourth of the seats would change hands, the largest turnover in a decade.

While the presidential and congressional races dominated the airwaves and headlines this fall, the battle for control of the Legislature will have a big impact on Minnesotans.

It will affect their taxes, the quality of their kids’ schools and their access to health insurance, among a myriad of other everyday issues.

The last two years of split government between DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and the Republican-controlled Legislature have been marked by gridlock, bickering, a 20-day state government shutdown and failure to solve the state’s recurring budget problems.

Dayton, who was not up for election this year, has said what’s at stake in the battle for legislative control is “gridlock versus progress.” If Republicans retain control, he predicted two more years of log jams at the Capitol. But if DFLers take over, he said they would work together to make taxes fairer, create jobs, improve schools and provide affordable health care.

Republicans argued they are the last line of defense against a big DFL tax increase.

“What’s at stake is whether we are going to be a highly taxed, highly regulated, highly government-influenced state, or are we going be competitive” with other states and nations with lower taxes and regulatory burdens, said House GOP Speaker Zellers.

Dave Orrick contributed to this article. Bill Salisbury can be reached at 651-228-5538.