Voters turned out at the primary elections to select candidates for some races to be voted on in the November elections.
According to preliminary results published by the Secretary of State’s office, Republican Tom Emmer will run for Congress in District 6, which has been held by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann for the past four elections.
Bachmann stepped down this year and the campaign between Emmer and Anoka City Council Member Rhonda Sivarajah to get their name on the ballot heated up. Emmer won with 73.27% of the vote.
Emmer faces DFL challenger Joe Perske and Independence Party’s John Denney in November.
Senate Race
Sherburne County Independence Party members chose Steve Carlson as their candidate for senator, to challenge DFLer Al Franken.
Local Republicans chose Mike McFadden to run against the incumbent Franken in November. McFadden received 71.15% of the votes, easily defeating Jim Abeler, who had 20.48%.
Governor Candidates
Republican governor and lieutenant governor candidates chosen by county residents are Jeff Johnson and Bill Kuisle, who received 33.50% of the vote. They defeated challengers Marty Seifert and Pam Myhra with 12.27%, Kurt Zellers and Dean Simpson with 27.71%, Merrill and Mark Anderson with 2.93% and Scott Honour and Karin Housley with 23.59%.
Johnson will face DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and Tina Smith and Hannah Nicollet and Tim Gieseke of the Independence party.
County Independence Party members chose David Singleton as their candidate for Secretary of State. He will face Republican Dan Severson and Democrat Steve Simon in November. Simon won a very close race, defeating his challenger Dick Franson 34.90% to 34.12% with Gregg Iverson taking 30.99% of the vote.
Democrat Rebecca Otto defeated Matt Entenza’s bid for State Auditor, garnering 84.66% of the DFL votes. She will face Republican Randy Gilbert and Independence Party’s Patrick Dean in November.
Scott Newman defeated Sharon Anderson to win the Republican nomination for Attorney General. Newman will run against Independence Party’s Brandon Borgos and Democrat Lori Swanson.
By Precinct
By precinct, the City of Becker has 2,237 registered voters. Of those 196 turned out for the primary. Becker Township has similar figures with 2,892 registered voters and 199 casting their ballot.
The City of Big Lake has three precincts with 1,305 voters in Precinct 1, 1,260 in Precinct 2 and 2,495 in Precinct 3. Voter turnout was 129, 88 and 170 respectively.
Big Lake Township Precinct 1 has 1,515 registered voters and 135 turned out to vote in the primary. Precinct 2 has 1,313 voters with 103 going to the polls. Precinct 3 has 800 voters with 92 turning out and Precinct 4 has 972 voters and a turnout of 75 voters.
The City of Clear Lake has 282 voters with 35 casting ballots. Clear Lake Township has 1,134 voters and 146 turned out Tuesday.
Haven Township has 1,359 voters with a 95 voter turnout. Orrock Township has 2,039 voters and 149 voted in the primary. Palmer Township has 1,468 voters with 167 participating in the primary. Santiago has 973 voters and 69 voted in the election.
The voters of Sherburne County election results closely align with those of the rest of the state.