The unofficial results of the Tuesday election showed voters in Palmer, Haven and Santiago townships were in touch with the national Republican wave, favoring GOP candidates in the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Minnesota House and Minnesota gubernatorial contests by a wide margin in each case.
School Board
The three unopposed incumbents on the ballot won re-election handily in the Tuesday election, with Bryan R. Olson being the top vote-getter with 2,088, followed by Aaron Jurek with 2,009 and Mark Swanson with 1,955. A total of 158 write-in votes were cast in the election, comprising 2.54 per cent of the vote total.
Townships
In the contested races in Haven Township, U.S. Senate candidate Mike McFadden polled 536 votes, with DFL incumbent Al Franken receiving 360. In the Sixth Cong. Dist. contest, Tom Emmer won with 526 votes, while DFL candidate Joe Perske received 358 votes. In the MN Dist. 14B race, Republican challenger Jim Knoblach won with 606 votes, compared to 318 for incumbent DFL Rep. Zachery Dorholt. In the gubernatorial race, Jeff Johnson and Bill Kuisle received 568 votes, while incumbent Gov. Mark Dayton and new Lt. Gov. candidate Tina Smith polled 322.
Republican Dan Severson was the top choice for Secretary of State with 575 votes, while DFL candidate Steve Simon had 284. State Auditor Republican candidate Randy Gilbert polled 480 votes, while DFL incumbent Rebecca Otto received 362. Republican Attorney General candidate Scott Newman received 468 votes, while DFL incumbent Lori Swanson had 389.
In the race for Sherburne County Attorney, incumbent Kathleen Heaney received 450 votes to challenger Duwane B. Snyder’s 267. Township supervisors Randy Linn, Kathy Sims-Kosloski and Michael Pesch were unopposed, and all were elected to new three-year terms.
In Palmer Township, McFadden received 557 votes to Franken’s 373, while Emmer polled 584 in the congressional race to Perske’s 352. MN Dist. 15B incumbent Rep. Jim Newberger (R-Becker) received 649 votes against DFL challenger Brian Johnson’s 325. Johnson/Kuisle received 612 votes in the gubernatorial race, with Dayton/Smith polling 320. The SOS contest saw Severson with 614 votes against Simon’s 296, SA candidate Gilbert polled 532 against Otto’s 372, and AG candidate Newman received 527 votes against Swanson’s 386. Heaney polled 545 votes against challenger Snyder’s 298 in the county attorney race.
Santiago Township cast 385 votes for McFadden and 182 for Franken in the Senate race, and 378 for Emmer and 175 for Perske in the Congressional contest. Newberger polled 404 votes against Johnson’s 178 in the MN House 15B race. Johnson/Kuisle had 394 votes in the gubernatorial race, with Dayton/Smith receiving 171. In the SOS race it was Severson 393 and Simon 149, SA candidate Gilbert polled 331 against Otto’s 202, and Newman got 343 votes against Swanson’s 199 in the AG race. Heaney received 268 votes, while Snyder polled 234.
