Rob Ecklund was re-elected Tuesday to represent Minnesota House District 3A at the state Legislature.
Ecklund, DFL, received 11,783 votes, or 59.4 percent, to Republican challenger Randy Goutermont’s 8,022, or 40.4 percent of the vote. The International Falls native carried Koochiching County with 61.6 of the county vote.
On Wednesday, Ecklund said he’d been up late watching vote returns and up early the next morning to pick up campaign signs.
He credited Goutermont’s effort. “Both my opponent and I ran a clean race,” Ecklund said. “I think he’s a pretty nice guy.”
The results indicate voters approve of the job he’s doing, Ecklund said.
“I lost a few votes in Silver Bay and Lake County, where Randy is from,” Ecklund said. “Otherwise, I think the numbers were pretty much the same as last time around. I worked hard, but that’s what I do. I door-knocked 90 percent of every town in the district. People saw me out and about.”
Ecklund, who was first elected to the position in a special election in 2015, said he was heading to St. Paul Thursday where the DFL would select its leadership team.
“I think northern Minnesota will be in a good position when it’s all said and done,” he said.
With Tuesday’s elections, DFLers gained 18 seats — more than the 11 they needed to give Democrats the majority in the House, with many of the DFLers elected coming in the Twin Cities suburbs.
“We’ll be in the majority,” Ecklund said. “I’ve heard it’s a lot of fun.”
Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, is likely the next speaker of the Minnesota House, and Ecklund said she deserves it.
DFL candidates made a clean sweep through the suburbs. “Unfortunately, Democrats are struggling in rural Minnesota and that’s something we are going to need to figure out,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ecklund said DFLer Tim Walz will be a terrific Minnesota governor, adding that rural Minnesota hasn’t had a governor from rural Minnesota since Rudy Perpich.
In addition, Ecklund said he’s pleased Democrats will be in the majority in the U.S. House “to keep check on other parts of government.”
In discussing the election, Ecklund said he told his wife, Joan, the next election cycle now begins. “She said that’s three years away. I said, no, that’s tomorrow.”
In the meantime, Ecklund said if he is able to harvest a deer while at the shack this weekend with his sons, “all will be good.”
The party
Koochiching County DFL Party Chairman Joe Boyle also said he’s pleased Minnesota voters gave Democrats wins at state level offices.
He said it’s a start to getting nonpartisan solutions for the state and nation.
At the federal level, Boyle credited voters with re-electing Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who he said has represented Koochiching County well.
Klobuchar carried the county with 54.9 percent of votes, compared to Republican Jim Newberger with 42.5 percent.
“I hope she is in the mix to be the next president,” Boyle said.
Tina Smith was re-elected as Minnesota’s U.S. senator also, he noted, which assisted in bringing the Democrats the House majority.
Meanwhile, Boyle said he believes DFLer Joe Radinovich, who sought to represent the 8th District in Congress, did a great job during the election, which however brought a win to Republican Pete Stauber.
Radinovich carried House District 3A, garnering 49 percent of the district’s vote compared to Stauber’s 46.9 percent, but Koochiching County voters cast more votes for Stauber giving him 50.5 percent of the county vote compared to 45.8 to Radinovich.
“Hopefully, Pete Stauber will vote as he said he was going to: To protect Social Security, Medicare and get affordable health insurance, but that will require the end of permanent tax cuts to the wealthy,” Boyle said.
Meanwhile, the governor’s race was close for Koochiching County voters.
Walz won statewide with 53.8 percent of the vote, compared to Republican Jeff Johnson, who received 42.4 percent.
In Koochiching, Walz received 48.7 percent of the vote, while Johnson received 48.1 percent.
