ST. PAUL — Former Republican state Rep. Jim Abeler has won his party’s nomination for an open Senate seat.

The Anoka chiropractor easily beat party-endorsed activist Andy Aplikowski in Tuesday’s primary winning 61 percent of the vote.

Abeler will run against Democratic candidate Roger Johnson in the early February special election.

The Senate seat covers suburbs north of Minneapolis.

The seat was vacated by GOP Sen. Branden Petersen who resigned this fall.