By Rich Larson
Northfield voters went to the polls yesterday in Minnesota’s primary election, with races ranging from Northfield City Council to an open U.S. Senate seat and the race for Minnesota governor.
Locally, two City Council contests required primaries. Three candidates — Thor Keilen, Katy Vondrasek and Adam Wale — sought the citywide At-Large seat being vacated by Davin Sokup. Vondrasek was by far the top vote getter with 2,595 votes or just over 61% of the vote. Wale received 1,065 votes giving him 25% percent. And with 592 – just under 14% -Keilen finished third and will not be on the ballot in November.
In Ward 4, a seat that opened with longtime Councilor Jessica Peterson White’s decision to step away from the council, voters were asked to choose from James Clinton, Peder Jothen and Dave “Superdave” Juntunen. The top two finishers in that race were Peder Jothen who received 430 votes, giving him 65% of the total, and James Clinton who tallied 172 votes and 26% of the total. Junttunen was eliminated from the race after receiving 59 votes or just under 9%. Jothen and Clinton will face off for the seat in November.
Ward 1 candidates Sean Allen and Kris Johnson did not appear in the primary because only two candidates filed, meaning both automatically advanced to the general election.
In other statewide races, Northfielders were asked to vote on candidates for Senator, Governor, and the United States Congress
The retirement of U.S. Senator Tina Smith produced crowded primaries. The leading DFL candidates were Second Congressional District Congresswoman Angie Craig and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. Flanagan received Smith’s endorsement, while Craig had backing from several prominent national Democrats. In the end Flanagan was the overwhelming choice for DFL voters, bringing in 59% of the electorate. Craig finished 20 percentage points behind with 38%.
On the Republican side for US Senate , former television and radio sports reporter Michele Tafoya, Adam Schwarze and former NBA player Royce White were among nine candidates. Schwarze carried the Minnesota GOP endorsement, while Tafoya has support from the national Republican establishment. That support was very clear in the voting. Tafoya carried 52% of all votes. Schwarze finished second with just under 24% while White received 11.6%. Flanagan and Tafoya will now face each other in November.
Northfield sits in the Second Congressional District, and with Craig running for Senate, that seat will be contested in November. The DFL field included former State Senator Matt Little, State Senator Matt Klein, State Representative Kaela Berg, Abdi Abdulle and Hugh McTavish. Little received the official DFL endorsement in May. Little will be the candidate on the ballot this fall after taking just over 47% of the vote. His closest competitor was Matt Klein who finished with 30%.
Republican Eric Pratt, who had the GOP endorsement, ran unopposed, and received 100% of all votes cast.
And finally, the DFL endorsed candidate for governor, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, won her primary by a very comfortable margin, receiving nearly 90% of the vote. On the Republican side, the field included Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, Kendall Qualls and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell among a larger group of candidates.This was a hotly contested race. Demuth is the sitting Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Qualls had the Minnesota Republican Party endorsement, while Lindell received President Donald Trump’s endorsement. There had been quite a bit of speculation that Lindell would win the primary handily, but Demuth seems to have surprised everybody, bringing in 43.4% of the primary voters. Lindell finished with just under 32.5%. Qualls came in with 21%. Klobuchar and Demuth will be the gubernatorial candidates this fall, guaranteeing that Minnesota will have its first female governor in 2027.
The general election will be held on Tuesday, November 3rd.
Rich Larson is the owner and General Manager of KYMN Radio. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
