BREAKING NEWS: Here’s a breakdown of results from key local races from Tuesday’s election
U.S. Congress- 1st District
In perhaps the most stunning race from Tuesday’s election, Jake Johnson of Rochester has claimed a close win in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District. Johnson’s victory comes on the heels of what’s being referred to as a “blue tsunami” that swept across the country. Democrats have taken control of both the U.S. House and Senate by wide margins.
Only 324 votes separate Johnson from incumbent Brad Finstad, a Republican. Results show Johnson has 163,057 votes compared to Finstad’s 162,733, a very slim majority of 0.1% for Johnson.
In 2024, Finstad won the seat by over 17 points.
Minnesota Senate District 19
Veteran Sen. John Jasinski, R-Faribault, cruised to an easy victory over challenger Sam Powell. Jasinski had 22,607 (60%) compared to Powell’s 14,924 (39%).
Minnesota Senate District 23
Incumbent Sen. Gene Dornink, R- Brownsdale, has gained re-election over challenger Angie Hanson. Dornink had 19,686 (54%) over Hanson’s 16,091 (44%).
Minnesota House 19B
Incumbent Thomas Sexton, R- Waseca, handed his challenger, Zack Meyman, also of Waseca, a convincing defeat. Sexton had 11,393 (59%) compared to Meyman’s 7,856 (40%).
Minnesota House 23A
Republican Nick Ronnenberg of Albert Lea has been elected to the Minnesota House after posting a convincing victory over Joe Staloch, also of Albert Lea. Ronnenberg had 11,034 (58%) compared to Staloch’s 7,914 (41%). Ronneberg replaces Peggy Bennett, who did not file for re-election.
Minnesota House 23B
Incumbent Patricia Mueller, R- Austin, survived a challenge from Christoph Dundas of Moscow Township. Mueller finished with 8,744 (52%) over Dundas’ 7,961 (47%).
Blooming Prairie City Council: Ressler retains role as mayor; two newcomers elected
Blooming Prairie Mayor Mike Ressler kept his seat in Tuesday’s election, defeating challenger Heath Lembke by nearly 50%, 649 votes to 234.
Bill Newman lost his bid for reelection to the city council; Paul Tollefson and Charlie Heimerman earned seats by collecting 29% and 26% of the votes, respectively. Newman, who has been on the council for more than 27 years, picked up 13.8%.
Thomas Wanous (18.6%) and Trevor Kruckeberg (11.7%) were the other candidates for council.
Blooming Prairie School Board
Monica Anderson and Haley Tollefson joined incumbents Rod Krell and Crystal Studer on the school board.
Owatonna City Council: Boeke keeps seat; Gnemi, Rand, McManimon win
The lone incumbent in the Owatonna City Council races defeated two challengers to retain his position.
Dan Boeke, council member at-large, picked up nearly 49% of the votes. He was first appointed to the council in July 2021 to complete the term of Jeff Okerberg, who died in office. Boeke won his first formal election to the seat in 2022.
Joseph Petersen and Tony Jurowski had 26.8% and 23.2%, respectively.
Ward 1
Tim McManimon has defeated Brad Flemming to win the Ward 1 seat on Owatonna City Council.
The former bank president picked up 54.3% of the vote to Flemming’s 45%, with 214 votes separating the two.
The seat has been held by Nate Dotson since 2010; he did not file for reelection.
Ward 3
Rick Gnemi will step into the Ward 3 seat in January, which has been held by Dave Burbank since 2010. Burbank did not seek reelection.
Gnemi won 41.4% of the vote, topping challengers Sarah Sanchez and Marcy Kim Busho with 26.9% and 23.2%, respectively. Ethan Becker, who ended his campaign last month, had 7.9% of the vote.
Gnemi will be the only new council member with experience in elected office; he served as a Steele County Commissioner from 2016-2024.
Ward 5
Rebecca Rand defeated three other newcomers to claim the seat for Owatonna City Council’s Ward 5.
She collected 30.6% of the votes, or 674.
Melissa Danielson had 511 votes, or 23.2%; Bruce Nelson earned 495 votes (22.5%); Dale Fairbanks had 486 votes (22.1%).
Rand succeeds Brent Svenby, who held the seat for 20 years. He did not file for reelection.
Owatonna School Board: Hedlund, Gieseke, O’Connor and Miller win seats
The lone incumbent seeking re-election to the Owatonna School Board will return to the dais, joined by a former board member and two newcomers.
Elizabeth Hedlund earned her second term with 14.3% of the vote; Nikki Gieseke, who served on the board from 2018-2022, picked up 15.41%.
Tim O’Connor (13.52%) and Ann Miller (13.38%) will join them.
Darren Albers, Damian Baum, April St. Martin and Christopher Lee were the remaining candidates.
Three seats opened after Board Chair Mark Sebring, Lori Weisenburger and Jolayne Mohs did not seek re-election.
Owatonna Referendum: Voters reject public safety project
It will be back to the drawing board for Owatonna leaders seeking new public safety facilities after the measure failed in Tuesday’s election.
Voters said no to the issuance of up to $65 million in bonds for construction of a new police station and new fire hall.
With 12,195 votes cast, there were 9,348 ballots against the measure. The yes votes totaled 2,847.
In Minnesota, cities may issue bonds to pay for major public projects – like a new police or fire station – but residents have the right to force the issue to a public vote, a process known as a reverse referendum.
On March 3, members of the Owatonna City Council voted unanimously to provide preliminary approval to issue up to $65 million worth of bonds to build the new facilities.
The approval of the bond issuance prompted an immediate response from those opposed to the project.
One of the main requirements is signatures representing five percent of the votes cast in the last general election.
In Owatonna, that amounted to 721 signatures; organizers collected more than 2,500.
Steele County: Spatenka wins County Commissioner District 1
Gary Spatenka was the winner in the race for Steele County Commissioner District 1. He tallied 1,884 votes, 61.82%, to 1,156, 37.93%, for Justin Ohnstad with eight write-in votes.
Incumbent John Glynn was re-elected in District 2 with 2,972 votes. There were 28 write-in votes.
Lon Thiele was re-elected Steele County sheriff with 14,760 votes. There were 317 write-in votes.
In the contest for county attorney, incumbent Robert Jarrett was re-elected with 12,688 votes. There were also 1,755 write-in votes. Results reported by the secretary of state’s office do not list the individuals who receive write-in votes, but M. Esther Sherman was running as a write-in candidate.
Two other county races saw Mark Ihlenfeld being re-elected to the Soil and Water Supervisor District 1 position with 14,444 votes and Mark D. Ditlevson, to the Soil and Water Supervisor District 3 position with 14,151 votes. There were 96 write-in votes in District 1 and 112 write-ins in District 3.
Medford School Board: Amberg, Janke, Morgan elected
Incumbents Jenny Amberg and Allison Janke will be returning to the Medford School Board in 2027 joined by newcomer Tyler Morgan.
Amberg was the top vote-getter with 653 votes, 19.49%, closely followed by Janke with 645 votes, 19.25%. Morgan had 630 votes, 18/80%.
Tricia Prondzinski has 534 votes, 15.94%; Matt Dempsey, 525 votes, 15.67% and Bryan Duncan, 353 votes, 10.53%.
Medford Council: Goodnature, Brandvold win seats
There will be two new faces on the Medford’s City Council in 2027, the result of tonight’s general election.
Nicholas Goodnature finished on top with 257 votes, 23.77%, and Jason Brandvold was second with 232 votes, 21.46%.
Incumbent Nick Sorensen placed third with 215 votes, Michael Prondzinski had 212 votes and incumbent Mark Heaser had 159 votes.