By Dale Mischke
Close to one quarter of registered voters turned out for the August 11 primary election in Minnesota, choosing their preferred candidates for federal, state and local offices and winnowing the field for the November 3 general election. Here are the unofficial results as of 3 p.m. on August 13 with 100 percent of the precincts reporting:
U.S. Senator
In the race for U.S. Senate, Republicans chose former Congressman Jason Lewis to be their standard bearer in the general election. Lewis bested the field of five GOP hopefuls with 78.1 percent or 191,290 votes. He will face incumbent Tina Smith, who topped the field of five DFLers with 497,498 votes (87.1 percent). Also on the ballot in November will be Kevin O’Connor of the Legal Marijuana Now Party and Oliver Steinberg of the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party.
U.S. Representatives
In the 4th District, 10-term incumbent Betty McCollum tallied 77,393 votes or 84.4 percent against four opponents in the DFL primary. In November she will face Republican Gene Rechtzigel, who garnered 51 percent (9,058 votes) to Sia Lo’s 49 percent (8,686 votes). Also on the general election ballot will be Susan Sindt of the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party.
In the 5th District, first-term incumbent Ilhan Omar garnered 57.9 percent or 99,917 of the votes to turn back a strong challenge from Antone Melton-Meaux (66,791 votes or 38.7 percent) in the field of five candidates in the DFL primary. Omar will face Republican Lacy Johnson in the general election. Johnson topped the field of three in the Republican primary with 76.7 percent or 9,061 votes. Also on the November ballot will be Michael Moore of the Legal Marijuana Now Party.
Minnesota Legislature
District 65 Senate—DFL incumbent Sandy Pappas turned back a strong challenge from Laverne McCartney Knighton. Pappas garnered 7,246 votes to Knighton’s 4,053 (64.1 to 35.9 percent) to advance to the general election where her bid for a 10th term in the state Senate will be challenged by Republican Paul Holmgren.
District 63A Representative—Ten-term DFL incumbent Jim Davnie tallied 11,038 votes to April Kane’s 2,829 votes (79.6 to 20.4 percent) to advance to the general election where he will face Penny Arcos of the Republican Party and David Wiester of the Legal Marijuana Now Party.
District 63B Representative—In a race for the seat being vacated by longtime incumbent Jean Wagenius, Emma Greenman topped the field in the DFL primary with 7,082 votes (64.2 percent) to Jerome T. Evans’ 2,871 votes and Husniyah Dent Bradley’s 1,078 votes. Greenman will face Republican Frank Pafko and Legal Marijuana Now hopeful Dennis Schuller in the general election.
Dakota County Commissioner
For the District 3 Dakota County Board seat, Laurie Halverson and Diane Anderson will advance to the general election with 4,222 and 1,673 votes, respectively. Rounding out the field of six were Seema Maddali (1,065 votes), Scott D. Johnson (743), Gary Huusko (670) and Janine Hudson (470).
Minneapolis School Board
In the race for an at-large seat on the Minneapolis School Board, incumbent Kim Ellison and challenger Michael Dueñes will advance to the general election with 58,077 (57.64 percent) and 24,289 (24.11 percent) votes, respectively, in the field of five candidates. The nearest also-ran was Lynne Crockett with 11,713 votes (11.6 percent).
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