Koochiching County Commissioner District 4 candidates Bob Anderson and Robert Ecklund will advance to the general election on Nov. 2.
Anderson and Ecklund received more votes than Tara Long Tuesday in the primary election. Only two candidates, those who received the most votes in the primary, for the position will continue to the general election.
Votes in the primary election for that commissioner race totaled 584. (See the chart on Page 7A for a complete vote tally for federal, state and county races.)
Auditor/Treasurer Bob Peterson said that the turnout was slow due to it being a primary election.
Turnout in the International Falls West Ward was highest in the area, according to Peterson, due to the commissioner race. More than 37 percent of registered voters cast ballots Tuesday. Other precincts, however, saw turnout around 20 percent of registered voters, he said.
Absentee votes were handled in the auditor’s office, he said, noting that a “fair share” of absentee ballots were cast this election. He reminded absentee voters in the general election to use their street address, and not a post office box, on the return envelope.
Ecklund said that the primary election “turned out pretty much the way I expected it to.”
He praised both Anderson and Long for their primary-election campaigns.
“Tara did a really good job,” he said, noting her work knocking on doors and placing signs around town.
“I’ll have to work hard to make up the deficit,” he said, referring to the race against Anderson. He said he knocked on about three-quarters of the doors in the district, and said he would have to meet remaining voters before the general election to compete with Anderson. “Bob’s going to be a tough opponent.”
Ecklund noted that he will be pulling most of his yard signs from residences around town to assess what he has, and reposition them around Labor Day to campaign for the general election.
“I am very pleased by the vote given to me by the citizens of District 4,” Anderson said following the primary. “I know it was a challenging day given the heat and humidity,” he added.
“I plan to continue working hard to visit all of the voters in District 4 before the general election,” Anderson said.
Anderson, too, complimented the “spirited campaigns” run by Ecklund and Long. “I appreciate the efforts they put in,” he said.
Long was unavailable for comment at press time.
The Democrat-Farmer-Labor Party race for Minnesota Governor also drew voters statewide to the polls.
Mark Dayton won that party’s nomination by a narrow vote over Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Wednesday, Kelliher conceded the race to Dayton and recommended unity in the party, pledging her support to Dayton. In the general election, Dayton will face Republican Tom Emmer, who received more than 82 percent of his party’s votes Tuesday; and Tom Horner, who held a commanding lead over the nearest competitor in the Independence Party race.
U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, DFL, will face competition from Republican Chip Cravaack and Independence Party candidate Timothy Olson for the state’s U.S. House 8th Congressional District position. Oberstar had a large margin of victory with more than 80 percent of votes over fellow DFL candidate W.D. (Bill) Hamm. The other candidates were uncontested in the primary election for their party’s nomination.
Koochiching County voters’ preferences were similar to those of the rest of the state. Koochiching County voters also showed support for Oberstar, Horner, Emmer and Dayton for the races in which they competed.
Filings close Tuesday for open city and school board positions. The general election Nov. 2 will include candidates for school district, city, county, state and federal elected positions that are open this year.
