Local, state candidates win elections

by Dennis Dalman

The biggest news from the Nov. 5 general election is former President Donald Trump will again be President of the United States, but there was also plenty of news in local and state elections.

As of Wednesday morning, the Newsleaders has learned which candidates have been officially determined as the winners for the Newsleaders readership areas.

Here are the winners as of Wednesday morning. The vote totals were taken from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Elections Bureau with all 87 counties and all precincts having reported vote totals by Wednesday morning.

St. Joseph Mayor: Adam Scepaniak, a current city council member, won the election. The two other contenders were Jon Hazen and Robert Loso. Scepaniak will lead the city after the long-time service of Mayor Rick Schultz, who had decided not to file for re-election after serving in that position for 14 years.

Vote totals: Scepaniak 1,415; Hazen, 1,196; Loso 561.

St. Joseph Council Members: Incumbent Kelly Beniek and newcomer Adam Schnettler were declared the winners. The other candidate was Troy Goracke.

Vote totals: Beniek 1,870; Schnettler 1,329; Goracke 1,169.

St. Cloud School-Board Members (St. Joseph being in the St. Cloud School District): The four winners among seven candidates are three incumbents (Scott Andreasen, Shannon Haws, Bruce Hentges) and newcomer Diana Fenton. The other candidates were incumbents Al Dahlgren and Monica Segura-Schwartz; and new challenger Yoanna Ayala-Zaldana.

Vote totals: Hentges 20,717; Haws 19,337; Fenton 17,873; Andreasen 17,562; Dahlgren 14,509; Segura-Schwartz 13,667; Ayala-Zaldana 6,217.

Stearns County Ballot Question: On the Nov. 5 Stearns County ballots was a question on whether the county should initiate a county-wide sales tax of an additional .375 percent to help pay for a new County Justice Center. The question was approved by voters by a hefty margin of 62.5 percent yes to 37.75 percent (50,234 yes votes, 30,466 no votes).

Constitutional Amendment Ballot Question: The question for voters was this: “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to protect drinking water sources and the water quality of lakes, rivers, and streams; conserve wildlife habitat and natural areas; improve air quality; and expand access to parks and trails by extending the transfer of proceeds from the state-operated lottery to the environment and natural resources trust fund, and to dedicate the proceeds for these purposes?”

Voters approved the question by 2,524,173 votes. The no votes were 530,173.

Stearns County Commissioner (District 2): Incumbent Joe Perske was the winner. The other candidate on the ballot was Jerry Theisen. Incumbent Steve Notch Commissioner District 5 was also re-elected.

Vote totals: Perske 9,983; Theisen 6,104; Notch 13,707.

State House District 14A: Incumbent Rep. Bernie Perryman, Republican, defeated a challenge by candidate Abdi Daisane.

Vote totals: Perryman 10,967; Daisane 8,464.

State House District 13A: Incumbent Rep. Lisa Demuth, Republican, was re-elected, defeating challenger Democrat Cindy Aho.

Vote totals: Demuth 19,215; Aho 6,282.

State House District 13B: Incumbent Rep. Tim O’Driscoll, Republican, beat back challenging candidate Dusty Bolstad, Democrat.

Vote totals: O’Driscoll 16,467; Bolstad 7,505.

U.S. Congressional District 6: Incumbent U.S. House Rep. Tom Emmer, Republican, defeated DFL challenger Jeanne Hendricks. Emmer will serve his sixth two-year term in the House, having first been elected in 2014 after Rep. Michele Bachmann, Republican, decided not to file for re-election. In the House, Emmer has served as Majority Whip since 2023.

Vote totals: Emmer 257,527; Hendricks 152,700.

Minnesota U.S. Senator: DFL Sen. Klobuchar won her re-election bid against challenger Royce White, Republican, and also defeated two other challengers – Rebecca Whiting (Libertarian Party) and Joyce Lynn Lacey (Independence-Alliance Party).

Vote totals: Klobuchar 1,791,459; White 1,290,759; Whiting 55,427; Lacey 46,621.