Kraulik wins Kittson County Commissioner District 1 race: New faces fill some city council and Tri-County School Board

The unofficial election results have come in for Kittson County Commissioner District 1, the cities of Karlstad and Lake Bronson, and the schools of Tri-County and Lancaster. Below are the results of the District 1 race, school board and city council races, and a Lancaster School funding question. Further in, one will find the results of Minnesota state races. These unofficial results come courtesy of the Minnesota Secretary of State website.

Kittson County Commissioner District 1:
Nathan Kraulik would win the Kittson County Commissioner District 1 race over incumbent District 1 Commissioner Corey Wikstrom, having served as a county commissioner for four years. Kraulik earned 255 votes (52.8%), besting Kraulik, who earned 228 votes (47.2%).

City of Karlstad:
The Karlstad City Council was assured to see at least one new face in January 2021 after city council member Michael Wade decided to not run for re-election. According to the results, it will have two new faces.

Three individuals ran for the two open Karlstad City Council positions up for election. The two non-incumbent candidates, Robbie Mickelson received 243 votes (36%) and Kristin Berberich 232 votes (34.37%) to earn spots onto the council.
Having nearly 12 years of previous experience on the council, incumbent council member George Hultgren ran for re-election, but did not another term, finishing with 198 votes (29.33%).

City of Lake Bronson:
The Lake Bronson City Council was assured of seeing at least one new face in January 2021 after city council member Phil Matthew chose to not run for re-election. Based on the results, this council will also have two new faces.

Four individuals ran for two open Lake Bronson City Council positions up for election. Two of the three non-incumbent candidates, Dustin Shablow received 60 votes (31.09%) and Jill Frei 59 votes (30.57%) to earn these two council member spots.

The other non-incumbent, Tony James Shablow, received 46 votes (23.83%), but did not earn a spot onto the council. After serving the council for over four years, incumbent council member Leana Kowaliuk ran for re-election, but did not earn another term, finishing with 24 votes (12.44%).

Ryan Rector ran unopposed for Lake Bronson Mayor and earned 95 votes (100%).

Tri-County School:
Heading into the election, the Tri-County School Board knew for sure it would have at least one new face due to board member Steve Murray deciding not to run for re-election. Based on the election results, one new person will fill the Tri-County School Board.

Three Tri-County School Board spots were up for election and four ran to try and fill those spots. Non-incumbent Karrah Oliver led the way with 805 votes (29.26%). Running for re-election, school board treasurer Denise Sollund received 776 votes (28.21%) and school board chairperson Holly Burkel 672 votes (24.43%) to earn the other two spots.

Non-incumbent Michael Johnston also ran for school board, but did not earn one of the three spots, receiving 478 votes (17.38%). A total of 20 write-in votes (.73%) were cast in this election.

Lancaster School:
The Lancaster School approved a capital project levy by 303 “yes” votes (61.71%) to 188 “no” votes (38.29%). This capital project levy will raise approximately $150,000 for taxes payable in 2021, its first year to be levied, and would last ten years. The amount of the capital project levy may be offset by the reduction of the referendum revenue authorization that is scheduled to expire. The estimated total cost of the projects to be funded over this capital project levy’s time period totals approximately $1,500,000.

Three Lancaster School Board positions were up for election and the three incumbent school board members, including James Diamond, Matt Nordin, and Justin Peterson, ran for these spots unopposed and earned them following the election. Peterson led the way with 419 votes (32.81%), followed by James Diamond with 412 votes (32.26%) and Justin Peterson with 409 votes (32.03%). A total of 37 write-in votes (2.9%) were cast in this race.

State Races:
As for state races, John Burkel (Republican) won the election for Minnesota State Representative District 1A. Burkel received 15,147 votes (72.75%), besting Connie Lindstrom (Democratic-Farmer-Labor), who finished with 5,663 votes (27.20%). Burkel will fill the spot left by Representative Dan Fabian (Republican), who chose not to run for re-election.

In the Minnesota District 1 Senate Race, incumbent Senator Mark Johnson (Republican) earned re-election with 27,943 votes (69.64%), besting Reed Perkins, who finished with 12,147 votes (30.27%).

In the Minnesota U.S. Representative District 7 race, Michelle Fischbach (Republican) won the election with 192,930 votes (53.47%). She would defeat incumbent Representative Collin C. Peterson (Democratic-Farmer-Labor), who finished with 143,545 votes (39.78%), Slater Johnson (Legal Marijuana Now), 17,575 votes (4.87%), and Rae Hart Anderson, 6,433 votes (1.78%).

In the Minnesota U.S. Senator race, incumbent Tina Smith (Democratic) earned her first full term to the Senate with 1,540,888 votes (48.76%). She bested Jason Lewis (Republican), who received 1,374,232 votes (43.49%), Kevin O’Connor (Legal Marijuana Now), 186,586 votes (5.9%), and Oliver Steinberg (Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis), 55,915 votes (1.77%).

Presidential Race:
In the U.S. Presidential and Vice Presidential race, Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) won Minnesota with 1,690,201 votes (52.43%), besting current President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Michael R. Pence (Republican), who received 1,459,339 votes (45.26%).