Capitol Notes: Primary Election Results

August 20, 2012

Primary Election Results

In two of the most closely watched state legislative primaries, two veteran Republican lawmakers from the largely Republican western suburbs were beaten by more conservative challengers. Cindy Pugh, of Chanhassen, a co-founder of the Southwest Metro Tea Party, scored a resounding victory over Rep. Steve Smith (Mound), the most senior member of the House Republican Caucus (22 years). Smith lost his party's endorsement after opposing constitutional amendments for so-called right-to-work laws and against same-sex marriage. He also had some other baggage having been stripped of his committee chairmanship for an inappropriate relationship with a staff person. A charge he has denied. He only gathered 30 percent of the vote.

In the race to fill an open seat left by the retirement of Republican Senator Gen Olson, Republican Rep. Connie Doepke lost to more conservative Mound City Councilman, Dave Osmek. Since losing the party endorsement to Osmek, Dopeke has been the target of negative literature pieces from conservative groups such as Americans for Prosperity claiming she is a "rhino" or republican in name only. Doepke lost by one percentage point.

Republican Senate Tax Chair, Julianne Ortman (Chanhassen) deflected a challenge from conservative activist Bruce Schwichtenberg in Senate District 47. While Ortman was not able to secure the party endorsement back in May, she defeated her challenger with more than 58% of the vote.

On the Iron Range, Jason Metsa, won the right to fill the seat vacated by Tom Rukavina. Metsa gained 53.6% of the vote in a three way race and we likely win the general.

Most of the other primary races went as expected. See results below.

On the federal side, there were two primaries of interest. In the highly contested DFL primary to challenge Republican freshman Congressman Chip Cravaak in the 8th District, party-endorsed candidate, Rick Nolan, beat former state senator, Tarryl Clark, and former Duluth city councilman, Jeff Anderson. Nolan was outspent by Tarryl Clark by a 4 to 1 margin, but pulled through over concerns about Clark's move into to the district to run for office. While Nolan was the party endorsee, Clark was endorsed by President Clinton and Emily's List. Anderson had the support of most of the Iron Range legislators.

In the 1st district, Allan Quist a long-time conservative candidate defeated State Senator Mike Parry by 54% - 46%. Quist won the right to be the Republican challenger to current DFL Congressman Tim Walz. Most political operatives believe that Quist may be too old and too conservative to provide a serious challenge to Walz. We shall see. Walz is on the Republican endangered species list.

Senate District	Winning Candidate	Losing Candidate
1 (GOP)	Steve Nordhagen - 938 votes (71 percent)	Jual Carlson - 383 votes (29 percent)
5 (DFL)	Tom Saxhaug - 3,356 votes (72.3 percent)	Laverne Pedersen - 1,288 votes (27.3 percent)
10 (DFL)	Taylor Stevenson - 2,873 votes (57.3 percent)	Anne Marcotte - 2,134 votes (42.6 percent)
15 (DFL)	Sally Knox - 975 votes (62.5 percent)	Ron Thiessen - 586 votes (37.5 percent)
17 (DFL)	Lyle Koenen - 2,903 votes (56.4 percent)	Larry Rice - 2,244 votes (43.6 percent)
20 (GOP)	Michael Dudley - 2,590 votes (86.2 percent)	Gene Thomas Kornder - 400 votes (13.3 percent)
30 (GOP)	Mary Kiffemeyer - 1,485 votes (74.3 percent)	Paul Bolin - 514 votes (25.7 percent)
33 (GOP)	Dave Osmek - 2,885 votes (50.9 percent)	Connie Doepke - 2,778 votes (49 percent)
39 (GOP)	Karin Housley - 1,941 votes (67.2 percent)	Eric Langness - 945 votes (32.74 percent)
40 (DFL)	Chris Eaton - 2,005 votes (81 percent)	Tim Davis Jr. - 470 votes (19 percent)
45 (GOP)	Blair Tremere - 978 votes (54.4 percent)	Tim Hall - 821 votes (45.6 percent)
46 (GOP)	Paul Scofield - 544 votes (56.4 percent)	Roger Champagne - 420 (43.5 percent)
47 (GOP)	Julianne Ortman - 2,114 (58.4 percent)	Bruce Schwichtenberg - 1,504 (41.5 percent)
55 (DFL)	Kathy Busch - 1,059 votes (87.3 percent)	Josh Ondich - 151 votes (12.5 percent)
57 (DFL)	Greg Clausen - 1,456 votes (78.6 percent)	Mike Germain - 395 votes (21.3 percent)
64 (DFL)	Dick Cohen - 5,710 votes (89.4 percent)	Alexander Jeffries - 674 votes (10.5 percent)
65 (DFL)	Sandy Papas - 2,440 votes (76.75 percent)	Marcus Walker - 739 votes (23.25 percent)
67 (DFL)	Foung Hawj - 2,141 votes (44.2 percent)	Robert Humphrey - 1,897 votes (39.2 percent) Tom Dimond - 806 votes (16.6 percent)
House District	Winning Candidate	Losing Candidate
2B (GOP)	Steve Green - 790 votes (53.4 percent)	David Collins - 688 votes (46.5 percent)
4A (GOP)	Travis Reimche - 768 votes (69.4 percent)	Ken Lucier - 262 votes (23.6 percent) Ben Larson - 76 votes (6.8 percent)
4A (DFL)	Ben Lien - 853 votes (74.3 percent)	Sue Wiger - 295 votes (25.7 percent)
6B (GOP)	Jesse Colangelo - 677 votes (64.3 percent)	Dan Darbo - 376 votes (35.7 percent)
6B (DFL)	Jason Metsa - 3,305 votes (53.6 percent)	Lorrie Janatopoulos - 2,550 votes (41.3 percent) Dave Meyer - 309 votes (5 percent)
7A (DFL)	Tom Huntley - 3,337 votes (81.5 percent)	Brandon Clokey - 756 votes (18.5 percent)
8B (DFL)	Bob Cunniff - 1,342 votes (75.8 percent)	Bruce Campbell - 428 votes (24 percent)
10B (DFL)	Joe Randinovich - 2,422 votes (76 percent)	David Schaaf - 765 votes (24 percent)
11A (DFL)	Mike Sundin - 2,365 votes (57.5 percent)	Bruce Ahlgren - 1,743 votes (42.4 percent)
11B (GOP)	Ben Wiener - 923 votes (50.46 percent)	Mitch Pangerl - 906 votes (49.5 percent)
11B (DFL)	Tim Faust - 1,137 votes (59.1 percent)	Nathan Johnson - 785 votes (40.8 percent)
15B (DFL)	Brian Johnson - 480 votes (77.8 percent)	Bruno Gad - 137 votes (22 percent)
17B (DFL)	Mary Sawatzky - 1,994 votes (65.9 percent)	Jessica Rohloff - 1,031 votes (34 percent)
24A (GOP)	John Petersburg - 1,488 votes (66.1 percent)	Larry Johnson - 763 (33.9 percent)
33B (GOP)	Cindy Pugh - 2,251 votes (70.3 percent)	Steve Smith - 949 votes (29.6 percent)
35B (DFL)	Sam Scott - 497 votes (70.8 percent)	Samuel Beard - 205 votes (29.2 percent)
37B (GOP)	Tim Sanders - 978 votes (89.7 percent)	Torey Hall - 112 votes (10.3 percent)
43A (DFL)	Peter Fischer - 1534 votes (53.6 percent)	Bob Hill - 1,324 votes (46.3 percent)
43B (GOP)	Kevin Klein - 336 votes (55.4 percent)	Bob Zick - 270 votes (44.5 percent)
51A (DFL)	Sandra Masin - 828 votes (88 percent)	Milton Walden - 112 votes (11.9 percent)
52A (GOP)	Joe Blum - 704 votes (53.7 percent)	David Meisinger - 606 votes (46.3 percent)
55B (GOP)	Tony Albright - 897 votes (78.8 percent)	Tim Jesperson - 242 votes (21.3 percent)
59A (DFL)	Joe Mullery - 1,441 votes (77.3 percent)	Marcus Harcus - 424 votes (22.7 percent)
59B (GOP)	Gary Mazzotta - 98 votes (55.4 percent)	Bill McGaughey - 70 votes (44.6 percent)
59B (DFL)	Raymond Dehn - 875 votes (37.12 percent)	Tera Cole - 857 (36.31 percent) Ian Alexander - 627 votes (26.7 percent)