Some surprising, some not-so-surprising results from Tuesday’s election as thousands flocked to area polling stations to cast votes for their favorite candidates.
At the noon hour, election judges at Palmer Twp. said people were lined up out the door before doors opened and they had already dished out nearly 500 ballots. In Santiago, the judges said they had a steady stream of voters and at around 12:30, Jim Zindler was voter #278.
At Becker City Hall, judges said it had been non-stop since doors opened in the morning and Jacklyn Livingston was voter #719 at around 1 p.m.
While Democrats dominated just about every statewide race in Minnesota, citizens who reside in Benton, Sherburne and Stearns counties can rest assure they live amongst like-minded people as Central Minnesota remains a haven for conservative thoughts and ways.
Though Amy Klobuchar was declared the winner of the one U.S. Senate seat just moments after polls closed, Becker resident Jim Newberger gave her a serious challenge. Klobuchar won the election with a 60% to 36% spread overall, but in Benton County, Newberger beat out Klobuchar 52% to 44%. In Stearns, Newberger and Klobuchar were even at 48% and in Sherburne County, Newberger had a 55% to 42% edge.
The same can be said about the Karin Housley/Tina Smith race. Smith won the overall election with a 53% to 42% win, but in Benton, Housley took a 57% to 37% edge and in Stearns she had a 55% to 40% tally. In Sherburne County, Housley had a 60% to 35% reckoning.
For Governor, the state elected Tim Walz by a 54% to 42% margin over Jeff Johnson. In Benton, Johnson was selected by 59% of the voters as opposed to 38% and in Stearns, Johnson polled 56% to 41%. In Sherburne, Johnson took a 60% win over 35% for Walz.
Much the same for Attorney General as the state elected Keith Ellison (49%) over Doug Wardlow (45%) while Benton showed a 60% to 33% win for Wardlow while Stearns showed a 58% to 36% win for Wardlow. In Sherburne, Wardlow won by 63% to 31%.
Locally, in Becker, Troy Cox (692 votes) and Rick Hendrickson (650 votes) were elected to city council. Challengers Dennis Rzeszotarski came in third with 584 votes, Dennis Carlson with 504 votes and Lynette Brannan with 481 votes.
For Becker School Board, Aaron Jurek received the most votes (2,333) to win one seat while Incumbent Mark Swanson won a second seat with 1,968 votes and Ryan Obermoller took the other open seat with 1,839 votes. Challengers Michael Steckelberg had 1,547 votes and Randy Bader 1,275 votes.
In Clear Lake, Kristin Brandt (146 votes) and Dale Powers (119 votes) were elected to the two open seats on council. Tim Goenner retained the mayoral seat as he ran unopposed and received 171 votes.
In Haven Twp., Kathleen Sims-Koslowski (746 votes), Michael Pesch ((743 votes) and Randy Linn (756 votes) retained their seats as they ran unopposed.
For Sherburne County, Diane Arnold retained her seat as county auditor/treasurer with a 21,724 to 9,258 vote advantage over Chris VanHofwegen. Michelle Ashe (27, 626 votes), Joel Brott (29,455 votes) and Kathleen Heaney (27,699 votes) all captured their elections, running unopposed.
For county commissioner, Felix Schmiesing Jr. ran unopposed and received 5,272 votes. Raeanne Danielowski defeated Paul Seefeld by a narrow margin, taking 3,390 votes to Seefeld’s 3,215.
For District 15B, Shane Mekeland received 10,700 votes while his opponents, Karla Scapanski and Myron Wilson received 6,161 votes and 1,137 votes respectively.
In other local districts, Sondra Erickson (GOP) defeated Emy Minzel (DFL) by 64% to 36% in District 15A. Dan Wolgamott (DFL) beat Jim Knoblach (GOP) in District 14B by a 58% to 42% margin. In 14A, Republican Tama Theis narrowly beat DFL challenger, Aric Putnam, 53% to 48%.
In District 13B, Republican Tim O’Driscoll beat DFL candidate Heidi L. Everett by a 64% to 36% margin. in District 13A, Lisa Demuth (GOP) beat Jim Read (DFL) with 11,348 votes to 7,243. And in District 13, Republican Jim Howe beat DFL challenger Joe Perske by a 57% to 43% margin.
