Who says mid-term elections don’t have high voter turnouts?
In Cook County, 3,225 registered voters made their way to the polls on a drizzly, overcast Tuesday, November 6 to cast their ballots. All told that was 83.18 percent of Cook County’s 3,877 registered voters, said Cook County Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers.
The vote totals are considered unofficial until the canvass board, which meets on Friday, November 9, has certified them, added Powers.
In the local election to select Cook County commissioners, Bobby Deschampe (486 votes) was unopposed and will serve a four-year term as the District 1 representative. Meanwhile, in almost a repeat of the 2014 District 5 commissioner’s race when Ginny Storlie beat incumbent Bruce Martinson by eight votes, this time Storlie beat Martinson by five votes, 322-317.
In the race for the District 3 commissioner seat, Dave Mills garnered 357 votes to Mickey Brazell’s 324 votes to fill the position now held by Jan Sivertson, who elected not to run for reelection.
Running unopposed (and their vote totals) were Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen (2,726), County Recorder Dusty Nelms (2,720), County Attorney Molly Hicken (2,633), and Auditor/Treasurer Braidy Powers (2,767).
Polls opened at the courthouse and Cook County Community Center at 7 a.m. and closed at 8 p.m.
Two-term incumbent Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux received 425 votes to retain his position against Ray Pederson, who got 306 votes.
Pete Gresczyk received 368 votes to defeat Jonathan Steckelberg, who garnered 344 votes to win a two-year city council term.
Kelly Swearingen and Anton Moody retained their council seats, and each will serve a four-year term. Moody received 344 votes to just nip Craig Schulte by one vote. Swearingen received 443 votes to top the field.
I.S.D. 166 school board race
Rena Rogers (558 votes) will be the newest member on the school board. She and current school board member Deb White (442 votes) and Dan Shirley (530 votes) all ran unopposed.
Rogers will take the place of Chris Goettl who decided not to run again.
Soil and Water
Stan Tull received 1,617 votes to beat Claron Krogness, who picked up 801 votes, to win the District 2 seat on the Soil and Water board.
David Berglund was unopposed and received 2,439 votes to claim the Soil and Water District 4 seat.
North Shore Hospital board
All three hospital board members, Sharon Bloomquist, Steven Nielsen, and Randy Wiitala ran unopposed. Bloomquist received 422 votes, Nielsen 538 and Wiitala 533.
Regional races
Pete Stauber (R) defeated Joe Radinovich (DFL) and Ray “Skip” Sandman, who ran as an independent, to win the Minnesota 8th Congressional District seat now held by Rick Nolan, DFL, who decided not to run again.
Stauber received 50.7 percent of the votes to Radinovich’s 45.2 percent and Sandman’s four percent of the votes.
Rob Ecklund (DFL) had little trouble retaining his state representative, House District 3A seat, collecting 59.42 percent of the vote to his Republican challenger Randy Goutermont, who got 40.45 percent of the total vote.
State races
In the race for governor, Tim Walz picked up 53.84 percent of the vote to defeat Republican Doug Wardlow, who received 45.09 percent of the votes.
In the U.S. Senate races both DFL candidates, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith had little trouble defeating the Republican challengers to retain their positions in the Senate.
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