Crow Wing County sees typical turnout for midterm primary election

Jeremy Lundgren, left, waits in the Ironton City Hall Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022, as head election judge Mabel Kelby checks the voter rolls with election judge Chris Hewitt looking on.

By Chelsey Perkins

August 12, 2022 at 7:00 PM

BRAINERD — One in 5 Crow Wing County registered voters cast a ballot in the Tuesday, Aug. 9, primary election.

This year’s turnout of 20% in the midterm election was similar to those in comparable elections in the past, said Deborah Erickson, Crow Wing County administrative services director. Primaries without a major local race typically result in fewer voters weighing in, she said.

“2018 had a turnout of 27% of eligible voters but there was a countywide sheriff’s race that generated more turnout,” Erickson stated in an email.

More election 2022 coverage

At the beginning of the day Tuesday, 45,543 voters in the county were already registered out of a total of 53,143 eligible voters. Another 221 voters registered on Election Day. Ballots cast totaled 9,271, with 1,763 of those votes coming via mail or absentee ballots.

The Crow Wing County Canvassing Board met Friday morning and certified the primary results, including those voted upon exclusively within the county as well as those that go beyond county boundaries, such as federal and state legislative races. The canvassing board reviewed the results after they were proofed by county election officials. Each municipality and school district has its own canvassing board to certify results in those races.

County canvassing boards in Minnesota include five members: the county auditor, the court administrator of the district court in that county, the mayor of the most populous municipality in the county and two members of the County Board not up for election in a given year.

In Crow Wing, the 2022 board includes Erickson, whose administrative position incorporates county auditor responsibilities; Crow Wing County Court Administrator Dana Anderson, who appointed courts employee Kendra Beach to attend in her place Friday; Brainerd Mayor Dave Badeaux; and county commissioners Doug Houge and Paul Koering. No members of the public attended the meeting.

The county canvass report is sent to the Office of the Secretary of State, where it is reviewed and incorporated into a statewide canvass report presented to the State Canvassing Board.

Also Friday, the canvassing board set the date for the post-general election review, a process required by state law to ensure the accuracy of the count of ballots by the optical scan machines. The review includes a hand count of races in two randomly selected voting precincts, with one of those precincts required to have more than 150 votes cast.

This year’s post-election review in Crow Wing County will take place 10 a.m. Nov. 21 in meeting rooms 1 and 2 at the Land Services Building, 322 Laurel St., Brainerd.

Tuesday’s local results

Senate District 5

Paul J. Utke, R (incumbent) — 5,027 votes, 57.35%.
Bret Bussman, R — 2,832 votes, 32.31%.
Dale A.P. Anderson, R — 907 votes, 10.35%.

Senate District 7

Ben DeNucci, DFL — 4,003 votes, 50.26%.
Kim (Kotanias) McLaughlin, DFL — 3,962 votes, 49.74%.

Senate District 10

Nathan Wesenberg, R — 3,730 votes, 36.81%.
Steve Wenzel, R — 3,290 votes, 32.46%.
Jim Newberger, R — 3,114 votes, 30.73%.

House District 5B

Mike Wiener, R — 2,099 votes, 50.48%.
Sheldon Monson, R — 2,059 votes, 49.52%.

House District 6B

Josh Heintzeman, R (incumbent) — 3,132 votes, 79.92%.
Doug Kern, R — 787 votes, 20.08%.

House District 10A

Ron Kresha, R (incumbent) — 3,572 votes, 73.65%.
Charles “Chuck” Parins, R — 1,278 votes, 26.35%.

House District 10B

Isaac Schultz, R — 2,997 votes, 58.04%.
Blake Paulson, R — 1,718 votes, 33.27%.
John Ulrick, R — 449 votes, 8.69%.

Aitkin County Board

District 3

Travis J. Leiviska — 293 votes, 37.76%.
Don Niemi (incumbent) — 285 votes, 36.73%.
Patrick Murphy — 198 votes, 25.52%.

District 5

Michael L. Kearney — 286 votes, 39.78%.
Ann Marcotte (incumbent) — 252 votes, 35.05%.
Doug McNeil — 181 votes, 25.17%.

Crow Wing County Board

District 3

Steve Barrows (incumbent) — 644 votes, 45.71%.
Tad A. Erickson — 358 votes, 25.41%.
Keith M. Johnson — 263 votes, 18.67%.
Jazz Ness — 91 votes, 6.46%.
Jacob White — 53 votes, 3.76%.

Mille Lacs County sheriff

Kyle A. Burton, 1,946 votes, 61.52%.
Travis Johnson, 781 votes, 24.69%.
Patrick Broberg, 299 votes, 9.45%.
Ryan VanDenheuvel, 137 votes, 4.33%.

Todd County Board

Lew Noska, 270 votes, 44.78%.
Nikki Deyle, 214 votes, 35.49%.
Robert Henrich, 119 votes, 19.73%.

Wadena County sheriff

Mike Carr Jr (incumbent) — 1,431 votes, 71.98%.
Milo Scott — 510 votes, 25.65%.
Jason Hofer — 47 votes, 2.36%.

Wadena County Board

District 1

Ron Noon — 223 votes, 63.35%.
Don Burns — 82 votes, 23.3%.
Victor M. Kern — 47 votes, 13.35%.

Brainerd City Council

Special election, Ward 1

Kara Terry — 160 votes, 43.48%.
Leonard D. Skillings — 114 votes, 30.98%.
William Bieser — 94 votes, 25.54%.

Ward 4

Gabe Johnson (incumbent) — 118 votes, 43.38%.
Emily LeClaire — 79 votes, 29.04%.
Johnathan Miller — 75 votes, 27.57%.

Source: Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State.

CHELSEY PERKINS, community editor, may be reached at 218-855-5874 or chelsey.perkins@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at twitter.com/DispatchChelsey .

By Chelsey Perkins

Chelsey Perkins is the community editor of the Brainerd Dispatch. A lakes area native, Perkins joined the Dispatch staff in 2014. She is the Crow Wing County government beat reporter and the producer and primary host of the "Brainerd Dispatch Minute" podcast.
Reach her at chelsey.perkins@brainerddispatch.com or at 218-855-5874 and find @DispatchChelsey on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.